Strays
by paox-fics
Summary: Ace, Sabo and Luffy grow up on the streets together until tragic circumstances force them to separate. Ace is pulled into the heart of the rebellion, but he never forgets his brothers. And when the time comes, he sets out to reunite with them - because the world itself can't keep the trio apart. Full AU, ASL!Centric.
1. 1-1 - Tell Me Your Lies

**AN: HI! Please read this quick before going on!**

 **This story is wildly, utterly AU. No, really. The geography and characteristics of this world are different, the character roles are changed, the logistics and technicalities are unrecognisable. So please don't read on thinking that this is set in the One Piece world. It absolutely isn't.**

 **You will learn more about this world as you go on. Devil fruits? Their alternative in this world is explained in this chapter, and in more detail later on. The geography? Yep, I'll explain that. Nobels? Explained in this chapter. Etc, etc.**

 **This story will be quite long, and split into three parts: Ace's, then Luffy's, then Sabo's. This chapter, as well as those following it for quite a while, are in Ace's segment.**

 **I hope you enjoy! Please tell me if you found anything confusing.**

* * *

 **Summary: 'Change is coming,' the bitter north wind howls as a freckle-faced, star-skinned child is born. 'And it's coming now.' - Ace and his brothers made a promise to always protect each other and, when Luffy went missing a year later, he and Sabo vowed to give everything to find him again. Four years later, Ace is a war-hardened revolutionary setting out to save his brothers. AU.**

 **Warnings: Violence, swearing.** **No** **explicit scenes.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

 **Other: YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **PLEASE GO LOOK AT IT, I'VE WORKED VERY HARD AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONCEPT ART AND SKETCHES THERE. PLEASE?**

 **THANKS FAM**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 – Tell Me Your Lies**

* * *

 _My name is Portgas D. Ace._

 _My name is Portgas D. Ace, and I'm eighteen years old. I'm a revolutionary. I have - or, **had** , two brothers._

 _And I'm broken._

 _(I don't mean that in a poetic sense, either. The doctors call it 'mental instability', phrase it as a myriad of disorders and traumas but I know better. Something's lost. I can't find it, and I don't know where to start looking.)_

 _And I'm only writing in this thrice-damned book because old man Herr says it might help. I know it probably won't – the only thing I can imagine helping now is being with the Whitebeards again, or seeing my little brother, or going back in time and making it so that I never even met Outlook D. Sabo. After all, he's the one that caused this emptiness. (God, I miss him.)_

 _Well, I guess I should start from the beginning. I'll burn this book the second I can use my fire again - not that that's very likely now - but writing out what happened might help to, I don't know, soften the ache? Don't ask me; I'm no goddamned psychologist, cousin._

 _I digress._

 _So, I'll start at the very beginning. Eighteen years ago, I was born in the harsh, chaos-reigned East._

* * *

Darkened streets, laced with wet flagstone that glints in the rain, are slashed by lightening. Somewhere, a clock is striking three. The sun has yet to lighten the horizon, and the storm rages on. Lining the streets, shops are boarded up tightly and the windows of houses are dark. This is the twilight hour – and no soul in the city is awake to watch the grimy streams of water that rush through the gutters as the streets slowly begin to flood.

Quickly, imperceptibly, the wind changes.

A harsh gust of wind from the north sends raindrops like bullets powering into windows. Once-colourful posters that line the street corners are now mottled and dog-eared, ink dripping down concrete to meet the earth. Apart from the war drums of thunder, the symphony of the pouring rain, the city is silent.

The people of this city, though they don't know it, would do well to be wary of this new north wind.

This north storm, cold and harsh and from lands far away, is wild and untamed. Along with it comes a shadow, dipping through alleyways, sodden with rain as its feet slap through marbled puddles of water and oil. In its ears ring a promise, and its heart is aflame. This shadow, this silent shape in the weeping night, knows that change is coming.

It's coming now.

The shadow stumbles through overturned carts and market stalls, and around them the rain is silver in the light of the waxing moon. They walk unevenly and their breaths come in huffs, tight with pain. They clutch a bundle to their chest, and they shiver as the cold seeps through their distinctive leather-collared jacket. Still, they carry on moving. The bitter wind is close on their heels.

The shadow reaches a building near the outskirts of Edge Town and raps hard on the door; once, twice, before the door opens onto darkness and a hand reaches from within to pull them in. The door snaps closed, and there is silence once more, broken only by the rain and the wild, contented growl of the north wind. The residents will wake tomorrow to a watery sun, rebuild their homes after a harsh storm - and they'll carry on, unknowing of just what the wind has brought them.

 _Change is coming_ , the wind howls, slipping back to lands far away. _And it's coming now_.

* * *

 _My mother, I'm told, was a kind woman. She died the day after she gave birth to me, only staying alive long enough to drop me with some bandits that her father, my granddad (who I've never met), was on good terms with. So I spent my first two or three years with the bandits. I never learnt how to read and write – Sabo was the one who taught me that, years and years later – and my speech was really behind, because they were goddamn_ _bandits_ _, not babysitters._

 _I guess I'm sorta lucky, in that way, that I met Shanks. He was from the north and was only staying in the east for a few months to recuperate after a 'rough few months at home', as well as to visit some chick somewhere in the town that I didn't meet until he was gone. Shanks came to visit a few times afterwards and honestly, he was probably the closest thing I ever had to a father. He taught me how to speak and act like I wasn't a rabid animal, at least. He took me under his wing._

* * *

Ace's earliest memory is from when he was around three or four, if he was to guess. A man with a familiar smell and scarlet hair that Ace clutches with small, chubby fingers picks him up and situates him on his hip, grinning fondly as Ace babbles happily in the few words that he knows. The sea air fills his young nose, sharp and sweet, and the wind gusts lazily through the crowds.

Today's the day of some kind of special celebration in the city. The people of the city are gathered around, thronging and heaving forward, flooding the streets with loud cheering and flag-waving. Something about it makes Ace feel sort of… off. If a toddler can feel that way at all. Mothers and fathers hold their children back, and everybody's looking down to the floor, slightly hunched, shadows in their eyes.

The parade is different, too. Ace has seen a few parades in his short life- the annual Autumn March and the winter display, to name a few. But there are no bright colours and music now. Five, maybe ten men strain at ropes at the front of the single parade float – if it can even be called that. Weighed down by a gold chair and the stick-thin, curled-lipped man on top of it, the float moves at a snail's pace through the city. As it passes, the people bow their heads. A tremble, a whimper rushes through the crowds.

( _this is how the world ends; not with a bang, but with a whimper_ )

One of the men pulling the float steps forward on one trembling leg, and then hits the floor with a crack that resounds through the air. Shanks flinches. When Ace turns to him, young eyes wide, he sees that he's trembling – not out of fear, but out of rage. His usually bright eyes are shadowed, and he holds Ace tighter.

"Guilty."

When the thin man on the float speaks, some sort of device on his shoulder amplifies his voice and turns it into a distorted monstrosity, a grotesque imitation of speech. Ace hides his face in Shanks' shoulder, and the older man covers his eyes as the float rolls over the man's still body. Ace can't see it but he knows; the fallen man has just been crushed. He's dead, all because he fell while tugging along some stupid old man. Ace wants to yell out at how disgusting it all is, at how his young mind can't seem to wrap around the malformed body and the blood streaming into the gutter, but the second the float has passed them Shanks whisks him away.

Hours later, Ace perches on a crate on Shanks' boat, opposite Benn. Benn's nice enough. He sort of reminds Ace of a kind, low-voiced uncle, if Shanks is his father. The man on the float and all of the men who once pulled him; they're all gone. Shanks is nowhere to be found.

Benn sighs, looking beyond his years for a moment. "That man, who was being pulled by the slaves, is something called a _Hyumangoddo_. They're not nice people. I doubt that that was the last time you'll ever see one, either. But listen to me, Ace. Whenever you see one – no matter what you're doing and who you're with – you run. Run as hard and as fast as you can. Those men don't care about you, or anyone, really. All they care about is that mark on the back of your neck."

"Mark?" Ace parrots. He reaches up to the back of his neck and taps the pale skin there, so often covered up.

"Yes." Benn looks grim. "That mark means that you're free – and more importantly, that you're powerful – and those are the two things that the Hyumangoddo think only they deserve to be. That mark means that you were born with an ability, one that will show itself in a few years, I'll bet. You'll be strong. One in a few thousand are born with those marks on their necks, and nobody has the same one."

It's all so confusing to Ace, with his young mind and the innocence that doesn't last much longer. "Shanks?" he asks. Shanks'll know what to do, surely.

Benn's face goes from grim to sorrowful. "The captain doesn't much like the goddos. They took somebody he cared about, a long time ago."

Ace doesn't understand very much. Is Shanks okay, or not? How can he make it better? He can't figure out, for the life of him, what's wrong.

Three months later, the small band of sailors set course for rough northern seas, and Benn warns him one last time; _keep your mark hidden, never tell anybody your full name – and if you see any of the Hyumangoddo,_ _ **run**_. Ace replays the words over in his head as Shanks scoops him into a fatherly hug, ruffling his wayward hair, and then they're gone and they've left behind a fear in Ace that he's immensely unused to. As he grows, he becomes more wary, sticking to back alleys and dark, narrow streets as he navigates the city.

Benn's last warning rings in his head whenever he hears news of the world nobles, and from then on, he stays out of sight when the yearly parade rolls by, with its silence and coldness and fear.

* * *

 _Remember that chick I mentioned? Well, a few months after Shanks and the other sailors set off again, I met her. Her name was Makino, and apparently she was from the South (yep, I know). She wasn't all that bad, though. I only knew her for a few days before she gave birth to Shanks' kid, and she died pretty soon afterwards. Growing up as I did, it wasn't the first time I'd seen death, but I was a damn four-year old alone in an alley, with a baby and a dead body. I knew that if I brought the kid back to the bandits they'd probably, I don't know, eat it or something._

* * *

Ace's hands shake as he grasps Makino's wrist, trying to offer some kind of comfort as tears run down her soft, smiling face. Her eyes are growing rapidly more distant with every passing seconds, and the hand that isn't cradling her new-born son is half-submerged in the puddle they sit in. The wind howls mournfully, tousling Ace's grimy hair. Against his will, he feels tears fill his own eyes.

"Thank you, Ace-kun…" Her sweet voice is shaking, even as she tries her hardest to keep it steady. Her body is giving out. "Tell Shanks…Tell him-"

She gasps in pain, a whine tearing from her throat as the wind picks up around them, and Ace forces himself to try and smile. This is all so confusing, and the rain is too loud for him to be able to think properly. "It's okay," he tries, the words heavy on his tongue. That's what Shanks always used to say to him, after all. "It's okay, it's okay, it's-"

Her eyes roll back and, abruptly, they no longer see.

"-Okay." Ace stares for a long second before a sob rises unbridled in his throat, and he covers his mouth with his hand. The new-born baby cries loudly as if he knows that something awful has happened, skin paling as the rain patters down on his cold skin, and Ace tries to pull him towards him as he reins back another choked gasp. "It's okay, it's okay. Take care of you. It's okay. It's okay."

Eventually, tiny hands fisted in Ace's ratty tank top, the child stills and goes silent. For a heart stopping moment Ace thinks that he's dead, too.

That's not the case, though, and warm breath tickles his chest as he cradles the tiny, fragile bundle to him. Outside, the city screams with the rising monsoon and Ace starts to wonder just what on earth he can even start to do now.

* * *

 _So I tried to raise Luffy on my own. There were some street artists on the other side of the city who took us in and, without them, we probably would've frozen to death within a few days. They were a bit rough around the edges ('a bit' is a gross understatement) but they helped me with the baby for a few years, until I was seven or so and I was old enough to scavenge my own food for me and the kid._

 _Luffy didn't actually have a name until he was two or three, and I took it upon myself to give him a half-decent one. Just calling him 'little cousin' probably wouldn't work out in the long run. I mean, one of the bandits used to call him 'fluffy' because of his hair, and I guess six-year old me just rolled with it._

* * *

The kid's third birthday comes without much fuss. Ace knows that it's today because the tiny, black-haired child, all wide eyes and thin limbs, was born on children's day. He could never forget this day.

Ace wakes him with a gentle prod to the side as the morning sun starts to filter through the rotten boards of the walls and ceiling. This old house is close to collapse, and he and his unofficial little brother will have to move on soon, but for now this is shelter enough. The street artists are already out, setting up their meagre wares in the light of the morning sun, and Ace can hear them talking merrily. Across the city, the yearly children's day festival is already starting to stir.

The kid wakes without complaint, bright smile already in place, and Ace is already in a better mood just from looking at it. Maybe they can take a day off today, head over to the festival, and he can nick the boy something worthwhile for his birthday. Yeah, they can do that.

The pair slip out into the sunlight and across the street a few minutes later, waving to the artists that they call family on the street corner as their feet scuff the dry, dusty rubbish that lines the gutters. If it was later in the year, this island would be awash with monsoons and flooding, but right now they'll just have to deal with sweltering, stinging heat. As a result of growing up here in this intense seasonal heat, Ace's skin is washed in a subtle tan, and Luffy is very brown. With similar shocks of messy, black hair and small, skinny bodies, they look just like brothers.

The streets ring with jovial voices and music threads through the air. The black-haired child, clinging to Ace's side, sniffs eagerly as the sweet smell of carnival food drifts on the breeze, mixing with the warm scent of fresh bread from a nearby bakery. He tries to toddle away towards the appetising smells but Ace pulls him back at the last minute, keeping the tiny boy tucked closely against him.

This town seems like heaven, but the people watch the world with shadowed eyes and they speak to nobody as they go about their work in forced silence. Ace hates this place, even though he's so young. Deep down, there's something jarringly _wrong_ here. Beneath the bright colours of festivities and feasts, people are scared; and Ace knows all too well that being scared turns people rotten. He might be young, but if he was stupid he would be dead.

Feeling abruptly skittish, Ace situates his younger companion in an alleyway with strict instructions not to move until he gets back. The child in question starts to play contentedly with a malformed, rusted tin on the ground, and Ace turns away with a small smile; he reckons that he'll be occupied for at least a few minutes while the older searches for something for his birthday.

A few minutes later, when Ace returns with a lightly steaming bun clutched in warming hands, the kid is gone.

Ace lets the warm treat slip from his small fingers, hitting the ground and rolling through the fine sand. A second later he's running further into the alley, the word 'kid!' slipping from frenzied lips over and over as he almost trips over the abandoned tin can. He catches himself and continues on, unsteady on young legs. _Damnitt_. He should never have left him.

"Ace!" A young voice rings out distantly, muffled and distorted as he stumbles over the word, and Ace runs harder into the depths of the alley, weaving through the dark. "Help m-"

His voice silences suddenly, and panic thrums under Ace's skin like a war drum. Kicking up dust that hovers on the air behind him, the child follows the voice until he stumbles around a corner and into the sunlight.

"Ace!"

Ace almost sags in relief when his eyes land on his charge, running over to assess the damage. The kid is trapped under a fallen wagon and the sidestreet they're in is deserted, no adults around to help. Even if there was anybody here, though, Ace heavily doubts that they would do much.

Tears fill his kid's eyes, and Ace scans him for any injury. The heavy wheelbarrow that has apparently landed on him is digging into his small back, tearing his ratty old shirt, and Ace can see blood pooling there. He needs to get him out of there, and fast.

"Cousin?" Ace puts his hands on Luffy's shoulders, trying desperately to calm him down. "Kid, listen, you need to calm down. Kid!" The object of his concern is inconsolable, face screwed up in pain, crying out as his skin tears. Tears of frustration well up in Ace's own eyes, and he scrambles to his feet, moving around to try and lift the wheelbarrow with shaking hands. Pulling at it feverishly, it takes Ace a few seconds to pull the heavy weight up, and in the blink of an eye, Luffy's out.

Adrenaline that he's never felt soaring through him, Ace crashes down to the ground and pulls the closest thing he has to family close to him. The two children clutch at each other in the street, dust sticking to tear tracks on both of their faces, and they don't move for a while.

"Kid!" The younger, still snivelling, doesn't look up. "…Fluffy?" Ace tries, feeling slightly ridiculous. That's what a few of the street artists usually call him, and he tends to respond to it.

The name works, surprisingly, and watery brown eyes meet his own silver ones. "'Loofy?"

Ace gives a breathy laugh, clutching Luffy tighter as the panic finally wears off. "Loofy… Luffy. _Luffy_." A grin spreads across his face, and Luffy picks up on it, beaming back widely as the tears start to slow. "Happy birthday, Luffy. I guess I gave you a name this year."

* * *

 _When I was nine, the artisans moved on. Of course, they wished us the best and left a little money, but things got a lot tougher. Luckily Luffy didn't have a Gift (I still kept the back of my neck covered all the time) but life was still tough. Things only got worse when_ _he_ _took over_.

* * *

The siege takes three days altogether. For a week or so before, terrified whispers swept through the city like wildfire. Parents locked their children indoors, the markets and squares were silent, and thunder brewed in the sky as the southward storm clouds rolled in. For those few days, Ace kept Luffy inside, trying to keep his surrogate brother warm even as the nights grew colder with each day. The city they knew so well seemed like it had been sucked into a vacuum, motionless and terrified. Rumours flew, and Ace was utterly unnerved by the terror in the people's voices as they uttered the unfamiliar name of 'Blackbeard'.

When the siege finally begins, it's with a whimper and not a bang. The people of the port district on the south side of the dusty eastern city watch with baited breath as one, two, three, five, _ten_ ships roll in silently. Black water licks at the broad sides of the logboats, and as the last light of day fades from the sky, their leader steps onto the docks. Ace presses Luffy closer to him, hiding his face in his side.

The man is tall and imposing, overweight in every sense of the word and missing more teeth than Ace cares to count. He wears a captain's jacket, and his fingers are stained yellow from what he can assume is years of smoking and drinking – that's how the regulars in the bars look, anyway. When he laughs, it sounds vaguely like a polyester-covered man taking a stroll through a forest- grating and, honestly, making Ace want to cringe. He can almost smell he damn breath from here.

From where Ace and Luffy stand a way off, they can see more figures immerge from the boats, many of them weighed down with various weapons as they grin menacingly. It feels almost surreal, watching these people step out into the dust of their homeland. A deep-seated twinge of fear tickles Ace's heart, and he swallows.

"Luffy?" He keeps his voice a low, soothing whisper, and Luffy looks up at him with terrified eyes. He knows that something is terribly wrong here. Around them, the crowds are silent. "I'm going to count to three, and then we're going to run, okay?"

This seems to put Luffy even more on-edge. "Ace, who are they? What do they want with us?" His voice is a childish whine to anybody else, but to Ace it's a terrified plea, and his heart breaks.

"Shh, Luffy, it's okay. We're okay. This is- this is okay." Ace swallows again, clasping his hand around Luffy's. "Don't be scared. They're just some visitors." He hesitates.

Ace has heard rumours about this 'Blackbeard' man; many of them. For one, he's an anarchist. Everybody knows about anarchists. They sort of remind Ace of the pirates in the plays they put on in the town square – they travel from island to island, taking over whatever and wherever they damn please. They're the stuff of nightmares, the bumps in the night that the adults are afraid of, too.

This anarchist, though, is stronger than most average thugs. They call themselves the 'Blackbeard Pirates', even though the era of pirating is long gone. Blackbeard and his crew apparently took over Cocoyashi and Syrup Village in only a few hours, killing the men and kidnapping and attacking the women and children, and amassed their forces on Loguetown, a nearby city, with a vengeance. Even the strength of that naval powerhouse wasn't enough to hold them off.

Now that they're here, Ace knows perfectly well what fate awaits this island. Awaits him and Luffy.

"We'll be okay as long as we run, okay?" Benn's warning flashes through Ace's mind, and he suddenly wishes to feel Shanks' hand ruffling his hair, or hear the warm laughter of the artisans as they work, or watch the men at the bar crack up laughing as he beats one of them at cards. He doesn't have a home, but he's wishing for one more than ever right now.

Ace realises with a jolt that he's _scared_.

"On three, okay?" Luffy squeezes his hand harder and nods tearfully in response. On the docks, a thin man with some kind of long sniper rifle at his side fixes his smirk on the pair, and Ace shudders violently. They need to get out of here right now. "One…"

The hand on the rifle twitches.

"Two…!"

Ace has to time this perfectly. Just before three, as he feels Luffy tense beside him to run, he swipes his leg outwards and feels it catch a man standing to their side on the ankle. He's always been strong and this is no exception- the man yells out and hits the floor, dragging the woman clinging to his arm down with him. People stop and stare, and the commotion is enough for Ace to hiss, "Three!"

They dive into a sea of legs, feet slapping on the wet cobblestone, and the rifle goes off with a sharp crack. Another man falls, and a bullet grazes the ground beside Luffy, causing him to yell out in panic. As Ace feels the open air on the back of his neck he realises it with a jolt; he's not wearing his scarf. With the frantic scramble to get to the port district when the alarm went up, he forgot to cover up his mark. And now, with the scope on that rifle, surely it's been seen.

Ace runs harder, panting with exertion as he tugs Luffy along with him. Above, thunder cracks at the same time as another gunshot sounds. White-hot pain lances through Ace's left elbow, and he grits his teeth against the urge to scream out. They may have been island-stealing sons of bitches, but they had a damn good sniper.

"C'mon, cousin," he grits out as soothingly as he can as Luffy stumbles. He hasn't called Luffy that term of endearment for years. "Just a little further!"

Three more shots, loud enough to make Ace's ears ring, rip through the air. Luffy screams and starts to fall, and faster than he's ever moved, Ace tugs the younger sloppily onto his back and continues on. Wetness hits his shoulder as Luffy sobs helplessly, and something hot and sticky starts to soak Ace's side.

Right now, he doesn't care about some thrice-damned 'abilities' that come with the mark on his neck. All he cares about is that his little cousin, practically his brother, is bleeding, and it's all because he was born with some stupid tattoo.

* * *

 _Luffy nearly died that day and we had to go into hiding for good. And, even though things had been fucked to hell before then, that was the point when everything got ten times worse._

* * *

 **AGAIN, PLEASE GO LOOK AT ART FOR THIS AT: strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **HOPE YOU ENJOYED, PLEASE REVIEW**

 **(As you might have guessed, Ace's segment explains his backstory leading up to and inclusive of his time with the Whitebeard Pirates. Yes, it does get more interesting and detailed! Right now, Ace's young memories are vague as shit, so it's all a little fast-paced.)**


	2. 1-2 - Brothers

**Warnings: nothing explicitly sexual, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **PLEASE GO LOOK AT IT, I'VE WORKED VERY HARD AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONCEPT ART AND SKETCHES THERE. PLEASE?**

 **THANKS FAM**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 – Brothers.**

* * *

 _I've a friend who lies and steals and cheats.  
_ _Always taking more than he can eat.  
_ _He says "To get what I want, I would probably kill.  
_ _If I don't take it, somebody else will."_

 _\- 'Follow My Feet'_

Eventually, Ace and Luffy manage to throw themselves out of the thronging crowds and into the darkness of the familiar waterlogged streets. The warm, sticky wetness on Ace's side grows with every second, and Luffy whimpers into his ear, slowly going limp. Ace struggles to move onward, body screaming, and the sound of voices grows behind them ominously. He speeds up, crashing through the empty market before he sprints forward to plunge into a maze of narrow, high-walled alleys.

Darkness surrounds them, and slowly, the voices begin to fade. One, two more shots ring out in the night, barely whispers over the ringing in Ace's ears. He doesn't stop running – everywhere he looks he can see them, the shadows in the puddles glinting like the silhouettes of guns being cocked, his every footstep echoed by a phantom one as he glances behind him feverishly, sure that they're still following him.

Luffy goes abruptly, horribly still.

"Damnitt!" Ace's voice comes out as a choked, panicked gasp that sounds like it couldn't have come from his own mouth. His foot catches the edge of a rise in the concrete and he goes sprawling, sharp pain shooting through the front of his forelegs and arms as he skids for several feet. One of his sandals goes flying off, but he leaves it in favour of righting Luffy on his back and trying to pull himself to his feet, shuddering.

"Catch the Gifted kid!" Ace jumps, barely managing to pull himself and Luffy into a nearby alcove and shove his hand over his mouth to muffle his breathing before three or four of the Anarchist lackeys crash past. Eyes wide, Ace presses down hard on his nose and mouth and hides Luffy behind him, too petrified to move. A few long moments pass, before the sound of yelling and pounding feet fade.

Ace sags back in utter relief. Thank god. Thank everything.

Luffy gives a breathy whine, screwing up his face, and the situation hits Ace again like a bullet. He hovers over the younger, scared of hurting him if he tries to move him, and resists the urge to hit himself when his mind refuses to move at the speed he wants it to. _Think, Ace, think_.

It clicks. By his estimations (not that they're all that accurate; he didn't exactly pay attention as he ran for his life) they should be nearing the town centre by now, and he knows that there's a bakers that always leaves its back door open not far from here. If he can just get Luffy there surreptitiously, he can nick some food for him and, hopefully, medical supplies.

But he needs to do it fast.

"Luffy, I'm…" Ace grits his teeth. "I'm so sorry for this."

In half a second, Ace rips off his black arm brace, balls up the stiff material and shoves it between Luffy's teeth. Setting his knees, he heaves the kid onto his back, and feels Luffy tense horribly. A muffled scream escapes from his throat but the arm brace does as it's meant to – Luffy should hopefully be quiet enough to move without garnering too much attention, and at least he has something to bite down on.

It takes two or three minutes to get to the bakery, but to Ace, it feels like hours and hours of torture. With every step Luffy's whines of pain grow quieter, dissolving into small sobs. The wet warmth on Ace's side clings to his skin, caking and dripping down his shorts. It takes every inch of Ace's will just to keep from stopping, giving in to the urge to comfort the kid (after all, he's been protecting him for six dam years. And now he's torturing him).

When they finally manage to drag themselves to the predictably open bakery door, Ace is as fast as he can be as he grabs anything and everything that looks like it could be of use. The people could be back at any second – but, knowing the people of this place, Ace knows that they probably won't go quietly. At the very least, a scuffle will break out - at most, a full-throttle siege. Ace lays Luffy on a workbench, sprinting upstairs to find anything that might help and to his utter relief, he finds a draw full of standard medical supplies in the bathroom.

Hammering back down the stairs, he trips and flies down the last few steps, hitting the stone floor at the foot of the stairs with a loud 'crack'. Ace's head spins and pounds but he forces himself to stand a few seconds later and carries on, the world tilting dangerously. Did he hit his head or something? Before he realises it he's back in front of Luffy, and he shakes his head violently, trying to dispel the darkness clouding his vision. Blood glinting with the glare of a single nearby lamp drips to the floor.

Somehow (and even years later, he doesn't know how the hell he does it), Ace manages to get Luffy's bloodstained shirt off and examine the bullet wound. It's about half an inch wide, maybe a little larger, and it appears to have gone right through Luffy's side – good, he won't have to take it out (Ace doesn't think he would've been able to stomach that). Hopefully it didn't hit any major organs but if it has, there's nothing that Ace can do about it anyway. He's anything but a doctor.

He gets to work patching the kid up. Once the blood is wiped away and the bleeding miraculously starts to slow, he can pretend that the wound isn't so bad; he still ends up fighting the urge to gag sometimes he works, though. He dribbles some disinfectant onto a gauze pad and starts to dab it lightly on the weeping bullet wound, thanking every star in the sky that Luffy's too out of it to feel anything. He doesn't deserve anymore pain.

The sound of cannonfire ruptures the air, and Ace freezes.

Damn, they don't have much time. If the fight has already broken out (as it undoubtedly has) it'll only get worse, and soon it will permeate the centre of the town. Ace works faster, pressing more gauze to the wound before wrapping thick coils of bandage around Luffy's torso to hold it in place. Provided that he doesn't move Luffy around too much, the bleeding should stop – at least, that's what Ace hopes. It seems impossible to him that Luffy even has any more blood left in his tiny body.

Ace pulls the bandages tight and slips Luffy's damp shirt back over him, staining the pristine bandages pinkish red. Somebody yells nearby, near incoherent, before the sound of gunfire begins. It's only as Ace his about to heave Luffy into his arms that he notices his own arm bleeding lightly, red dripping from a deep cut on his elbow down to his wrist. His eyes are refusing to focus. Taking a deep breath, he grabs the last of the roll of bandage and wraps it around the wound a few times. Vaguely, he recalls a bullet grazing him as they first started to run.

With that sorted, the raven-haired preteen lifts Luffy again, trying to cradle him gently in hopes of sating the wound on his side. Blowing out the lamp, he shoves the back door open again with his elbow and creeps out into the night, skirting around a pile of trash on the ground. A fox skitters across the ground a few feet in front of him, yapping. Legs tight and burning, Ace barely manages to pull himself and Luffy into a shop he knows is abandoned across the street before they give out.

Collapsing to the ground just inside the doorway, he pulls Luffy close to him and holds the kid tight, reaching out with shaking hands to close the door behind them. After barely a few minutes, the sounds of distant shouting and the clashing of swords reaches the mouth of the square, and then the battle is raging right outside the damn door. Every instinct Ace has screams at him to pull himself and Luffy far, far away from the sounds of ensuing battle, but his body refuses to move.

He falls asleep (passes out) fitfully to the sound of his city falling outside his door.

* * *

Ace wakes with a jolt to the sound of distant rumbling, and a thick smell of stale, settling smoke. Luffy's body is mercifully warm over his own, deep breaths tickling the hollow of his ear as he snores contentedly. The world appears to have righted itself as he slept – now he can tell the difference between the ceiling and the floor, at least, and though his head aches, it no longer feels like he's being roughly shaken constantly by somebody he can't see.

Shoving off Luffy as gently as he can (which, granted, isn't very gently at all) Ace props himself up on his hands and looks around him. Sunlight is starting to drip through the cracks in the derelict walls, and the sky is somewhere between baby blue and peach. The air is crisp and cold, but not to the point where Ace is shivering, and they are alone.

"Luffy?" Ace knows that if he wants to go anywhere, Luffy has to be conscious for it. No way in hell is he leaving him here alone. Leaning over, he shakes a small, grubby shoulder slightly. "Oi, Luffy, come on. Luffy." He shakes him incessantly, sighing in defeat when all Luffy does is whine under his breath and roll over, facing away from Ace.

"Don't make me hit you, you little moron, get up." An irritated growl tickles Ace's tone.

Luffy groans a little louder, large brown eyes slipping open as he rolls back over to look up at Ace. Though it's small, Ace can see his wince as he twists and knows that the bullet wound will most likely ail him for at least a few more weeks.

"Ace?" Luffy's words are slurred, eyes lidded with sleep. "Where are we?" After a second, his eyes widen curiously and he tilts his head. "What happened to your face?"

"My face?" Ace asks absently, raising his hand to feel along his jaw, "What about it?"

"You're all purple 'n stuff," Luffy says eloquently, before giggling. "Like an eggplant."

Now that Ace thinks about it, he can feel some bruising lining his cheekbone. It must've been from when he fell down those stairs. Looking himself up and down, he can see the rawness and scrapes along the front of his arms and legs – vaguely, he can remember tripping and skidding across the ground as he carried Luffy.

Sitting down beside the younger boy, he taps the slightly bloodied skin of his knee and hisses. Hopefully the cuts are too shallow for any risk of infection. Then again; it's not like Ace would know what an infection looked like even if he did have one. He's hardly a medical expert.

"Speak for yourself, idiot," he says gruffly, reaching out to poke lightly at the bandages poking out from under Luffy's shirt. "I'm just fine."

"Then why're you purple?" The kid's head tilts further, and he crosses his legs in front of him.

Ace holds in a laugh. "They're just bruises."

"Bruises?"

Ace yawns, surprisingly tired despite the fact that they've slept through the night and into early morning. "Those purple-green marks that turn up on your skin when you get hurt."

"Ahh." Luffy nods sagely, before his eyes bug out. "Eh?! Ace is hurt?!"

Ace's fingers twitch, and he resists the urge to smack the idiot upside the head. "Only a little bit. Do you…" He hesitates. "Do you remember what happened last night?"

Luffy considers for a second, flopping down to lean his head on Ace's stretched-out leg and look up at him. The added weight on the raw skin makes Ace wince harshly, but he doesn't push Luffy off, glad for the comforting contact. "A bit, I guess. The sirens went off and then there was this big, scary guy by the port!" Luffy spreads his arms and puffs out his cheeks to emphasise just how 'big and scary' the man was. "And then you kicked somebody and pulled me along and-"

He freezes, staring absently at nothing.

"Luffy?" Ace waves his hand in front of his face, concerned. "Oi, Luffy?!"

"Something exploded," Luffy says on a small voice. He looks down at his side, seemingly only now registering the blood that stiffens his shirt and the bandages circled around his torso. "Something blew up, and- Ace…!"

Ace is far from being the best at being comforting, but he doesn't even have to think about it before he's pulled Luffy closer to his side, being careful of the bandages and gauze that paint his skinny chest. "You're good, Luffy, it's okay. We're fine."

"Something exploded," Luffy says hollowly, "Ace, _hurts_."

Ace clings on for a second longer, feeling the kid shaking, before he pulls back and raises Luffy's tearful face, meeting his eyes. "You were shot. And it's all my damn fault. And I'm sorry, but we're- we're wanted now. We can't stay in this city, not if we want to survive."

"What's happening?" Luffy's voice shakes.

Ace forces the rising panic down, knowing that all he's doing is making his little cousin scared. Pushing Luffy's head gently back down to rest on his leg – this time his thigh, just to minimise the stinging – he sighs and crosses his arms.

"You know the big, scary guy on the docks?" he begins after few seconds. Luffy nods, sniffing. "He was a man called Blackbeard – or, at least, that's what he calls himself. I've been hearing rumours about him for a few months now. He's taking over the East Seas; apparently he's Gifted, like me."

"Gifted?" The fear in Luffy's voice is gone, replaced by curiosity.

"You know that mark on the back of my neck?" Ace taps the spot where he knows it lies, like he has countless times before. "That's a Gift. It's something that people are born with and the reason I always have to hide it is… Well…" He steels himself. "People who have marks like this aren't meant to be born. The Government, the people who rule this island – until now, anyway – want to kill us all. When the mean g- _Blackbeard_ saw my mark, his sniper shot at us and, well…"

Luffy makes a swirling, vague pattern on the top of his leg. "That sounds like a cool thing," he says casually. Ace snorts but makes no comment. "What does a Gift do, anyway?"

Ace considers the question. To be completely honest, he doesn't really know. He's been told that it's meant to give him some kind of power but if it is, it hasn't gotten around to it yet. So far, this damn thing have been far more a curse than a blessing. "That mark means that I'm free, that I'm powerful – and those are the two things that bad people think only they deserve to be. It's supposed to give me some kind of ability, but I haven't seen any signs of one."

"Ability?!" Luffy exclaims, eyes starry. "That's soooo cool! Do I have one too?"

Ace laughs, feeling lighter than he has all morning. "Thank god, no. But I think you'll do just fine anyway. You're harder to kill than a cockroach."

"I am?" Luffy asks, before puffing up with false bravado and making Ace crack up laughing. "Of course I am! Someday I'll beat you, even without some stupid ability!"

"I thought you thought that Gifts were cool?" Ace asks, laughter in his voice as he raises an eyebrow.

"I never said that _Ace's_ gift was cool," Luffy says cheekily, before rolling out of the way of Ace's incoming fist.

"Brat!"

"Touchy!" Luffy pouts, and suddenly everything is normal again. He and Ace stare at each other for a long moment, before bursting into helpless peals of laughter, childish voices filling the abandoned old shopfront. Ace hasn't laughed this hard in years.

Slinging his arm over Luffy's shoulder, Ace says, "I think we'll be fine, kid."

"Hm!" Luffy nods in agreement, looking innocently enthusiastic before he realises that Ace called him 'kid' and trying to kick out at him, starting one of thousands of scuffles and spars (he gets pounded into the ground, of course, but still insists that he's won. Ace just laughs).

* * *

 _After that first night, the siege continued on the other side of the city and me and Luffy spent all day running around and looting houses, preparing to leave. At some point a Marine ship arrived, but when they caught sight of Blackbeard's logboats they left quicker than you can say 'cowards'. We left the city but I knew that leaving the island altogether wouldn't do much to help us – soon, all of the East Seas would be taken over, and the chances were that we wouldn't have been able to steal a boat, anyway._

 _I considered going back to the bandits that had raised me for my first few years. I barely remembered them now, and there was no doubt in my mind that if I have returned they would have handed me over to Blackbeard before I could even try to explain myself. Everybody had seen us when they shot at us that first night. With the encouragement of Blackbeard, the whole city would soon be after us._

 _So we left the city but stayed close to it. Outside, in a mountain of ash and dust that had once been some kind of trash heap, we huddled for warmth and watched as the people of Edgetown slowly submitted to Blackbeard and his lackeys – or, as they called themselves, the 'Blackbeard Pirates'. I wasn't exactly the best older brother, and things stayed that way until we finally met Sabo._

* * *

Ace tugs his hood lower over his head, trying to cover his eyes. Every inch of him is screaming at him to turn back, to run back to the trash mountain and to Luffy before he ends up getting stabbed or worse – captured. From his place on the dreary, rain-soaked rooftop, he sets his shoulders determinedly and slips down the drainpipe, as quickly as he dares.

These visits to the city, ever since they began, have put him incredibly on edge. It's been a year since Blackbeard took over and while he no longer resides on the island, a hoard of his followers rule the dusty city with an iron fist. Makeshift wanted posters plastered with Ace's face stare at him from every direction. The people, once only being a little shifty and sometimes less than friendly, are now grey-faced and thin. They look utterly, completely defeated.

Sometimes, Ace hears people talk about running away north and joining the Revolution because 'they're better than any of the damn cowards at the Navy who won't even stand up to Blackbeard'. Most of the time, though, it's just talk. The first and last time a man tried to run away from the island, he ended up with more of him on the outside than on the inside.

Shaking himself out of his musings with a sharp pinch to the wrist, Ace slips across the street, rain slowly beginning to soak through his makeshift disguise. His black bangs hang uselessly into his eyes. All he has to do is get to the port, he reminds himself, and grab anything useful from the docks. They've always been a good place to salvage from, and right now, Luffy's looking so, so small. Even after having lived rough all of their lives, Ace has never seen either him or Luffy look so thin. He won't admit it, but he's starting to get scared.

If he can grab anything of value, they can try to throw together some gadget or another and Luffy can take it to the off-market trade point. Ace hates the fact that Luffy has to be the one to do it on his own but right now, they don't have a choice – Luffy's the one who doesn't have his face stuck up all over the city. Ace does draw the line at the kid coming to the port, though.

Navigating toward the south side of the city is less of an exhilarating adventure and more of a tense, forced procedure. Ace knows the way like the back of his hand but now, he's constantly having to hide himself the second he hears a sound. No risk is worth taking anymore – not when his death leaves Luffy alone out on the trash heap, with no food and no Ace to protect him. Ace is cautious to the n'th degree.

Finally, he makes it to the port side and emerges cautiously onto the street. It's utterly silent. The rain appears to have driven away the fishermen who used to sing as the merrily lined this street. Now, this street – like the rest of the damn East Seas – feels dead. It feels like it was never even alive in the first place.

Creeping across the water-flooded way, Ace swings himself silently down to the long boardwalk and slips into the small cavern below the street. It's a few feet deep and stretches for a while along the front, and Ace can just about manage to fit in here without hitting his head on the ceiling. Crabs shuffle over his sandaled feet and he picks one off absently when it starts to crawl up his leg. He's never been particularly squeamish.

Making his way along the dark, sandy corridor, Ace keeps one eye on the ocean. There's one ship approaching that looks like a merchant ship – it was most likely taken over by the Blackbeard Pirates, and will be unloaded here. Apart from Lougetown, a few days away, Edgetown is the largest port town in the east. This happens often.

Mission forgotten, Ace stares at the approaching vessel with interest, suddenly feeling like it's something important. Ace isn't usually one to go by instinct alone – but he's never been somebody who thinks through their plans too much either, so maybe checking this out won't be a complete waste of time.

About half an hour passes before the boat finally docks. It's clear that it's a captured ship, as the men who steer it into the mouth of the harbour look like they're not exactly used to the ship yet - and when the boat is docked, men and women start to be lead out of the hold in chains, followed by large crates filled with loot. Ace sighs, sweeping his slowly drying bangs out of his eyes. Even more innocent people, crushed under _him_. These days, it feels like Ace doesn't have much empathy left to spare, but he certainly feels something for these people.

Suddenly, something moves near the crow's nest, and Ace squints hard. He takes a half-step out of his hiding place. Was that…?

"Stowaway! Get 'im!"

A nimble figure takes a flying leap out of the crow's nest, twisting in mid-air before crashing down to the deck. A second later they clamber up onto the railing facing Ace, silhouetted in the sun, and take an unhesitating plunge into the iron-grey waves among a cacophony of shouts. Though the sailors look like they're considering it, nobody jumps after the stowaway, and they don't come back up.

Ace stares hard at the rippling waves, trying to spot any hint of a shadow below the silvery curtain, but the stranger doesn't break the surface. After a few seconds, though, something dark blue and rounded floats limply to the surface ten feet or so away from where Ace stands, and before he knows what he's doing, Ace tears off his shirt and dives into the water.

The cold is like a stab in the chest. For a few seconds Ace is paralysed, unable to breathe, before he takes a strong breath in and tries to kick to the surface. Salty water fills his mouth and throat before he hits the open air, coughing helplessly. After a few seconds of spluttering and struggling, he manages to get air back into his lungs and push towards the navy-blue object, long ropes of seaweed licking at his legs from below the surface.

Ace manages to get to the strange object and treads water for a second, examining it. He knows immediately that it isn't the stowaway – it's too small and light, and is cylindrical in shape. Salty water blurs and stings his eyes, and as a shiver rakes up his spine, Ace turns back toward his small alcove, swimming as hard as he can towards the shore with the sopping wet object clutched in his hand.

Clambering onto the concrete ledge in front of the alcove, Ace rolls over and coughs out a few mouthfuls of seawater, pulling on his abandoned shirt as quickly as he can as shivers rack his frame. Once he's gotten his bearings back, the black-haired boy looks down at the blue item on the ground beside him, and-

"A hat." Ace drops his head into his hands. "I jumped into the freezing cold water in December to save some goddamn hat." Knowing his luck, he'd probably end up with a cold and then he and Luffy would be under for a few days. _Great_.

"I'd appreciate it if you gave that back."

To Ace's credit, he doesn't fall back into the ocean. He does, however, flinch violently and shoot to his feet, cursing himself for forgoing his pipe on today of all days and setting his legs shoulder-width apart, raising his fists. However, before he can lunge in at the newcomer, he's met with the surprising sight of a small, blond kid who looks around his age, sopping wet and shivering in a dirtied shirt and workers' pants. He has some kind of napkin tied around his neck that Ace has seen some of the richer barterers wear (a cravat? Something like that) but apart from that, everything about him screams 'street kid'. Ace immediately feels a little more at ease – sort of like meeting a being of your own species after a long time of seeing nothing but aliens. This kid is like him.

Ace's voice, however, is still guarded. "Who the hell are you?"

The blonde kid puts his hands out in front of him, trying to show that he doesn't want a fight. "Please, I don't want to fight it's just-" He gestures helplessly to the blue top hat slowly drying by Ace's side. "That's mine."

"You were the one who hid on the boat?"

The kid actually grins almost proudly, as if he can still barely believe that he's here at all. "Yep!" When he speaks, Ace can see that he's missing a tooth. "Can I ask who you are?"

Ace sniffs roughly, the scent of seaweed thick on his skin. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing! Look, if it helps, my name's Sabo." A pause. " _Now_ can I ask for yours?" He extends his hand to shake.

Ace stares the boy hard in the eyes for a second, before sighing almost resignedly and shaking the offered hand. The grin he gets in return is almost blinding, very similarly to Luffy's, and he feels his own lips twitch in response.

"I'm Ace. Can't say it's a pleasure."

* * *

 _He was a stowaway on a captured merchant ship from the south, but he was originally from over west. From the moment I heard him say that, I always saw Sabo differently than I'd ever seen pretty much anyone. I grew up hearing horror stories about the west. The West Sea is the only place the government has never been able to control- it's a mess of crime and death and, honestly, pretty damn scary at times._

 _Anyway. After I conducted the heroic rescue of his hat, I meant to leave Sabo in the city to take care of himself, but he followed me back to the trash heap. Once he met Luffy, the kid took a shine to him._

* * *

"Aceee!"

Luffy's voice hits Ace a second before the boy himself does, tackling him to the ground in a tight hug. They send up a cloud of dust as Ace struggles to regain his bearings, Luffy sits on his chest, beaming down at him. "Hi, cousin!"

"Get off me, you leech," Ace says gruffly, hiding a smile. Shoving Luffy lightly to the floor, he stands up and stretches, brushing a thick layer of dust off himself.

Luffy beams for a second more before taking in Ace's appearance, tilting his head curiously. "Why're you all wet?"

Tugging Luffy to his feet, Ace starts to walk toward the treeline, sliding off his arm brace and squeezing the last of the water out of it. "I saw something in the water off the port and got curious. It's nothing," he says casually.

"Did you bring it?! Did ya', did ya' did ya'?!" Luffy bounces around him, filled with his usual unending energy.

Ace smacks him lightly over the head. "No, I didn't. Calm down, will you?"

Luffy pouts, but stops bouncing around – or, at least, he doesn't seem quite as energetic. They crunch across the bed of dust, Luffy clinging to Ace's hand, and Ace doesn't have the heart to shove him off. Deep down, Luffy doesn't like Ace leaving to visit the city – and Ace knows it. He doesn't like leaving, either.

A footstep sounds behind them.

Shoving Luffy behind him, Ace spins, whipping Luffy's pipe from the younger boy's hands and bracing it in front of him. As soon as he sees who it is, though, Ace groans in exasperation and lowers his weapon. "You again?!"

Sabo grins sheepishly, scratching the back of his head and straightening that damn top hat. "Uh, yep. I followed you here."

"Hey, cousin, who're you?" Luffy takes a step forward and Ace lets him, but shoots Sabo a warning look. Like hell is he going to let some weird little kid hurt him after all of this.

Sabo seems relatively unperturbed by the familiar term Luffy uses for him – he must have met somebody from the east before. "I'm Sabo!" A flash of that missing tooth again, before his smile fades slightly. "Are you two brothers?"

Ace steps back in front of Luffy – this guy is asking too many questions. "What the hell is your problem, anyway? I told you to leave me alone."

"And I told you that I wouldn't listen!"

"Tch." _Smartass_. "Just go back to the city and die in some gutter. We don't need some stranger following us around like a lost-"

"Ignore Ace, he's just grumpy 'cause someone managed to follow him and he didn't notice," Luffy chips in brightly. He practically beams up at Sabo, and at that moment Ace knows – Luffy wants to make Sabo their friend. Absolutely nothing can stop the kid when he gets like this; Ace knows from personal experience.

Sabo laughs and asks Ace, "Who's the kid?"

Luffy's face dissolves into a familiar pout. "It's _Luffy_ , not 'kid'. You don't look that much older than me!"

Sabo tries to step forward but Ace stops him with a harsh glare. "You didn't answer my question. What. Do. You. Want?"

"Calm down!" Sabo raises his hands again but this time, he actually looks a little nervous. His eyes dart with apprehension, and he glances back at the city far behind them, blurred in the evening mist. "You saw me, Ace. You know I'm just some runaway who ended up in the east – I don't-" Sabo struggles for a second. "I don't want to hurt you two, I just don't know where I am. Or what I'm doing. Or anything about this place."

Even though something shifts inside Ace, his face stays passive and cold. "Why the hell _should_ we help you?"

Sabo looks slightly disgruntled. "I'm not asking for much! But by the looks of it, you know this place well, and three pairs of eyes are better than two, surely?"

"Yeah!" Luffy, seemingly having been drawn in by the conviction in Sabo's voice, nods furiously. "Two eyes are better than three!"

Ignoring Luffy's oblivious bungling of the phrase (and struggling to hold back a snort in this tense situation), Ace scowls - _It's not a pout! Luffy pouts, I scowl_ – and turns away. Scuffing his shoes in the reddish-black dust, he starts to trudge along the way to his and Luffy's hideout without looking over his shoulder to see if they're following. "Fine, bring the guy along. See if I care."

Luffy cheers as if Ace has just announced that his birthday's here early and grabs onto Sabo's arm, tugging him along as they stumble as one after the oldest boy. Sabo still looks apprehensive, but the shadows that were in his eyes a few seconds before are gone and excitement slowly begins to creep across his face. Breaking away from Luffy and running eagerly after Ace, he sends up clouds of dust with every footstep, the scent of smoke and grime making him feel more alive than he has in a long time.

This is the start of something good.

* * *

A few days after Sabo and Ace's unusual meeting at the docks and the following developments, Sabo hasn't died yet – something Ace is rather surprised to hear, if he's honest – and seems to have taken to trash mountain like a fish to water – the blonde is even half-decent with a pipe. He and Luffy get along like a few thousand houses on fire; their friendship is as fast-moving and destructive as it is warming. And occasionally (figuratively) burning.

Ace himself is slowly, slowly starting to warm up to the idea of Sabo staying with them. Sure, the blonde preteen can be an insufferable smartass, but he doesn't whine and complain nearly as much as Luffy and he takes the fact that Ace is a wanted criminal right in his stride. To be completely honest, he doesn't seem to care.

Ace is shaken out of his thoughts by the sharp call of a hawk overheard, piercing the sky like a knife. It's just before dawn, and he sits silently on the edge of a long tree branch, overlooking the horizon where the sun will soon rise. This tree is around fifty metres from their hideout – if that dump can even be called that – and Ace comes here most mornings, waiting for the sun to rise. The metal of his pipe is cold against his back.

"Ace?" asks a groggy voice from the foot of the tree. Ace starts, glancing down with a scowl on his lips before he realises who it is.

"Sabo? What're you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Sabo stifles a yawn, starting to climb lazily from branch to branch to reach the spot where Ace has situated himself. Once he's seated a few feet away from him, leaning back against the thick trunk, Sabo puts his hands behind his head. Unlike Ace, he doesn't look to the horizon but to the sky. "I saw that you weren't in the hideout and I worried."

"What'd you do that for?" Ace meant for it to come out gruff and uncaring, but his tone sounds more teasing when he says it out loud.

Sabo shrugs easily, and they slip into comfortable silence as the sky slowly starts to pale. At some point Luffy joins them, plopping himself down against Ace and pressing into his side as he rubs his tired eyes. At that moment, Sabo feels immensely separate from the pair somehow.

When the sun finally breaks the horizon, Luffy stands up to get a better view, previous tiredness gone. When he nearly topples off the high branch and to the floor, however, Ace steps in and steadies him, letting him wrap an arm around him and returning the gesture grudgingly (or, at least, that's how he would describe it). They stare at the sun as it rises for a second, silent and transfixed, before Ace feels the stare pressing into his back.

Sighing in mock exasperation, Ace turns slightly and gestures for Sabo to join them on the precarious ledge. Slinging an arm around his shoulders to mirror how he stands with Luffy, Ace feels Sabo return the gesture and the two beacons of warmth on either side of him press against him hard.

"Hey," Luffy says suddenly, "We're brothers, right?"

Ace nearly chokes on nothing. "What the hell?! Luffy, we've known this guy for less than a week!"

"Yeah, but he's _Sabo_! He's really nice!"

"He is?" Ace asks at the same time as Sabo says, "I am?!"

"Yeah!" Luffy's stare is still riveted on the horizon, even as he argues with his 'brothers'. "He hits me less than Ace."

"And that's why you want him as your brother?!"

Luffy laughs his annoying, adorable little laugh. "Yep!"

"Oh my god, you're impossible." If Ace's hands were free, he'd smack his own forehead.

"But are we?"

This time it's Sabo's voice that asks, surprisingly small, and Ace and Luffy stare. "Sorry, what?!"

Sabo seems to struggle with his words for a second. "I've been alone for a long time. And brothers…" A wistful look enters his eyes. "Brothers sound like the complete opposite of all of that."

Luffy nods wisely. "Sabo gets it."

Ace drops his head in defeat as he tries to hide a helpless smile, letting the sun warm his hair as it falls across his face. "You two are off your heads, you know that?"

Luffy laughs, eliciting a giddy one from Sabo and Ace's own chuckle; soon they're all laughing loudly, and somebody moves – who, they argue about all morning, but nobody truly knows – and they go pitching over the side, hitting the ground in a pile of groaning and giggling.

Brothers. It doesn't sound all that bad to Ace, at least.

* * *

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	3. 1-3 - Tomorrow

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

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 **THANK YOU ILY**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 – Tomorrow**

* * *

Time passes fluidly. As the rainy season comes to a slow stop and the humidity and dryness return, dust settles thickly over their makeshift home. With three thin walls and a low ceiling of corrugated iron, the days are painfully hot and the nights are freezing cold, stinging to bare skin. The dust and sandstorms are choking, and return with the same vengeance that they do every year.

Ace, Sabo and Luffy hunt and scavenge for food in the early mornings and evenings, the only times when any of them can bring themselves to go much more than huddle for warmth or try fruitlessly to shade themselves from the burning sun. Sabo's pale skin reddens and peels in the sun constantly for the first few weeks of the drought season. It's obvious that he's not at all used to the immense heat, but soon his skin tans and the angry redness fades. Ace and Luffy, who've been in this climate their whole lives, have weathered, slightly bronzed skin to show for it; but even they can't stand the heat of one of the hottest dry seasons they can remember.

On nights when it isn't so cold (or, at least, on nights when they can make themselves move), the trio often move to sit on the branch where Luffy called them brothers for the first time. It's relaxing up there. Of course, they aren't actually brothers. They're nowhere close to brothers, Ace tells himself, but the claim feels relatively pathetic when he tells it to himself in the middle of the cold night, sandwiched in between Luffy's and Sabo's bodies, blond hair tickling his face as the rough cloth of Sabo's clothing presses against his arms.

Okay, so maybe he's warming up to the other kid a little. Sabo doesn't whine or complain much, and he can take care of himself, and the only thing about him that's annoying is the nightmares. _Christ_ , the nightmares. A night when Sabo doesn't wake up flushed and choking on his own terror is a rare one, and though Ace knows _logically_ that Sabo doesn't have any control over whatever shit's running around in his head, it's still a complete nuisance and Ace doesn't appreciate it in the slightest.

Tonight, a silent night with little wind and a bite in the air, Sabo has yet to wake up like that. Hopefully, he won't at all (Ace won't keep his hopes up, though). Not much has changed since they met two or three months ago. Sabo's still in need of a haircut – and probably a good bath – and he still staunchly wears that weird napkin thing around his neck. He refuses to take it off most of the time, and whenever he gets changed he does it facing Ace and Luffy, so they can't see his back.

Ace is the same, of course, but it still annoys him that somebody is _this secretive_. What on earth could Sabo have to hide that's worse than a mark? There's hardly a likely chance that he's also marked – one in a million, at least, rests on Ace meeting somebody else like him. But if it isn't that, then-

Sabo shifts beside him, a small whimper escaping from his lips. On his other side, Luffy doesn't stir; after how exhausting today was, the kid needs some rest. Sabo moves again, pressing closer to Ace as his brow furrows and his shoulders slowly start to shake. Ace can feel the tension in the other's body, and knows that if he doesn't manage to wake Sabo soon, he might start screaming and wake Luffy – and he can't let the kid get even more tired than he is.

"Sabo. Sabo!" Ace hisses, cautiously prodding his 'brother. Sabo tenses again and that's the only warning Ace gets before a small fist flies into his face and Sabo bolts up, panting hard and flailing. He stares around madly, eyes wide and filled with something animalistic. Luffy twitches, face screwing up for a second, before he settles into sleep once again and Sabo's eyes seem to focus on his surroundings. He notices Ace (who probably looks far more worried than he'd like to look), and the choked noise raising in his throat cuts off halfway out of his mouth.

"A-Ace?" Sabo coughs, suddenly realising that he's practically cowering away from the pair under the ratty blankets, and scrubs his hand over his face. His hands are shaking.

"You alright?" Ace asks cautiously, shifting closer to the boy slowly. "That was- that was some nightmare."

Sabo laughs nervously, like a kid caught stealing, and his eyes dart as he straightens his cravat. "I guess," he says lamely after a few seconds.

Awkward silence fills the air for a minute or so before Ace decides to screw it all and grabs Sabo's elbow, pulling him up. "Come on, we're going to the tree."

Sabo looks like he wants to protest, but wisely decides against it. After Ace tucks the blanket tighter around their youngest, the pair of outlaws slip into the night, stumbling over dusty rocks that are coated with thin layers of moonlight and frost. The night is soundless, and the air still.

Soon, they reach their tree, and Ace shimmies up it faster than a squirrel. Sabo's still-shaking hands struggle to find purchase on the dry bark, and Ace has to haul him up as he starts to scrape his hands up from his fruitless attempts to climb up. "You good?"

Sabo nods, albeit shakily. "I'm good."

Soon they settle, Ace nearer the trunk of the tree and Sabo sitting near the end of one long, familiar branch. The branches are thick and firm, almost like the support beams of the city but somehow far more real. Above, the moon is near full.

A few minutes of silence pass before Ace says, "Mind telling me what that was?" It's less of a request and more of an order.

Sabo's silent for a minute. His head is tilted down, too-large top hat shadowing his eyes. Ace wants to tell him to hurry up and say it but holds himself back, knowing that this isn't an easy topic.

Sabo sighs and straightens his cravat again. "I came from the west," he says. "And I was really, really lucky to get out."

Ace waits for him to continue in stupefied silence for a second before he says, "Oh," dumbly.

"You know before this place was taken over, the newspapers always made it seem like they were in control?" Sabo's voice is hollow, sends a cold chill down Ace's spine. "They weren't. They haven't been in control for years. They've given up hope of saving us westerners now that our people are just criminals and our diseases are murderers."

Ace's mind races at a mile a minute. Suddenly, it all makes perfect sense. Sabo's blonde hair and blue eyes, his pleasant accent. Western traits. His screaming nightmares and dark eyes, and his reluctance to talk about his past. The western area of the sea has been known as a hellhole for a long, long time. Hell, Ace wouldn't have been surprised if Sabo had killed a man – or at least seen the same kind of cruel death that he grew up seeing. The jigsaw that is Outlook Sabo is abruptly, suddenly solved.

"Sabo, I-" Ace struggles for words, shifting closer to the other unconsciously. After a moment, he meets his eyes. "Tell me."

"Why do you want to know?" Sabo pulls his knees close to him, wrapping his arms around them and hiding his face.

Ace steels himself. "We're brothers, aren't we?"

Sabo looks almost as shocked as Ace is that he actually said that, but his arms lose their taut tightness around his legs. He relaxes.

"I guess we are," Sabo whispers. He sighs suddenly, like all of his fight has left him, and leans back to brush his shoulder against Ace's. "I grew up in an orphanage on a quiet island. We had our fair share of danger – of course we did – but it could have been far, far worse. I don't know who my parents were and, honestly, I don't care. The kids living with me in that orphanage were my family, and the two ladies who ran it were good enough parents for me anyway." Sabo pauses, smiling faintly as his eyes glint with memories.

"What were their names?" Ace asks. "The other kids, I mean."

"I was the oldest, and Sanji was a year younger than me. Then it was Kaya and Carrot, and then Silk, and then-" Sabo trails off.

"Then?" Ace prompts.

"I'm sorry, I just-" Sabo's shoulder gradually starts to shake again and though his face his shrouded in shadow, his growing panic alarms Ace. "They're gone. _Gone_. I was nine and some group of slave traders came to our island – we'd always known that it was only a matter of time, but-" Sabo's voice grows more hysterical with every word. "I wasn't strong enough! My brothers and sisters were taken, and only me and Sanji got away. Three days later, a military ship came across our raft and took Sanji, left me for dead."

Sabo takes a long, harsh breath, a sob rising in his voice, and he looks close to falling off the branch. "And now look! It took me a whole year to get away from that place and now I'm stuck in the east, only able to remember the last thing Sanji told me – 'don't let anybody see your mark', and-"

Sabo freezes.

And then leaps up, rocking the whole branch and sending Ace toppling out of the tree. Ace hits the ground with enough force to knock the air out of his lungs, pain shooting across his back, but a quick observation tells him that nothing's broken. Somewhere to his left, Sabo hits the ground running but stumbles, struggling to force himself onto shaking legs.

"Wait!" Ace calls desperately as he pushes himself up, "Please!"

Sabo flinches, panicked breaths breaking the silence of the night air, and pulls himself to his feet. He starts running again but Ace uses the last of his strength to push himself to his feet and jump on the blonde, pinning him to the ground. Holding the other kid down is like grappling with an eel; an elbow hits his face and a knee buries itself in his gut but Ace holds steady, knees braced at the blonde's sides.

"Let me go!" Sabo yelps, sounding like a cornered animal. "Let-"

"I've got one too!" yells Ace.

Silence falls like a hammer. Sabo goes suddenly still beneath him, barely seeming to breath, and stares up into his eyes incredulously. "What?" the young blonde breathes.

"I've got one too," Ace repeats gruffly, pulling himself off Sabo and sitting down beside him. He massages his sore spine. "A Gift, I mean. And I'm not going to hand you in when we're in the same boat." Ace's eyes soften slightly, and Sabo pulls himself up to sit beside him, pulling himself together and swiping a shaking hand across his face. "Luffy cares about you, and if he says that we're brothers then I guess we can be. Okay?"

"Okay," Sabo says, cautious but looking a little more comforted. He still looks incredulous. "You really have one?"

Ace nods wordlessly.

"I've never met somebody like me before," mumbles Sabo numbly.

"Me neither," Ace replies, "And-"

"Guys?" Luffy's tired voice floats from the direction of their hut and Sabo and Ace turn around as one. The kid is dragging his blanket along through the dust, black hair sticking up in all directions. He looks like he's about to fall over, shivering violently with the cold. Ace pats the ground between him and Sabo, and Luffy takes the invitation gratefully, plopping down and throwing his blanket over Sabo before snuggling into his oldest brother's side.

"Hey, what're you two doing out here?" Luffy asks suddenly after a few minutes, as if it's only just occurred to him that they aren't in the hut. Ace and Sabo exchange fond, exasperated looks.

"We just couldn't sleep, 'cause our idiot little brother kicks too much," Sabo teases. The wind's back in his sails, and the dark horizon Ace can see out of the corner of his eye is starting to fade to pale grey. Around them, the wind will soon slowly start to pick up.

"Brother…" Luffy murmurs sleepily before the coin drops. "Brother! You just said-"

Ace whaps the back of the younger boy lightly over the back of the head. "You kept saying that we were brothers, we had to give in at some point. You going back on what you said?"

"No, of course not!" Luffy pulls the two ten-year olds at his sides closer to him, burrowing into them to keep out the cold. "You're my brothers. I meant it."

Sabo sighs. Ace knows immediately that he's going to say something stupid or self-deprecating, or both. "Luffy, I've got something to tell you."

The kid tilts his head to the side. "What? Sabo?"

"I'm…" A pause. "I'm Gifted. Like Ace. I'm sorry I never told you guys before."

Luffy stares for a second, connecting the pieces of the puzzle just like Ace had, before he grins and laughs his stupid little laugh. "Hey, that means you have cool powers like Ace! That's so awesome!" His eyes light up with stars. "Ooh, can I see, can I, can I?!"

"Okay, okay!" Sabo looks vaguely overwhelmed, but he's happy. Turning around, he loosens his cravat and pulls down the back of his grey shirt. Ace turns away. Seeing the mark that Sabo's tried to hide for all this time feels like seeing some kind of grief-laden battle scar.

Instead of the excited, awed babbling that Ace expected, Luffy goes silent. After a second, he turns to Ace and asks, "Do all Marks look the same?"

Ace turns around, uncomprehending. "What?"

"Sabo's marky-thingy looks just like yours. Can two people have the same one?"

Ace's eyes widen. "Let me see that!" He practically shoves the younger boy out of the way in his hurry to see Sabo's Mark. The blonde flinches, but lets Ace inspect it all he likes.

It only takes one look for Ace to confirm it. "Fucking…"

"What is it?" Sabo asks slightly defensively, trying to twist to see his Mark.

Ace meets Sabo's eyes. "We've got the same Mark… Sabo, please say that that isn't as impossible as I'd thought?"

Sabo looks shaken. "It's completely impossible. As far as anybody knows, no two people have been born with the same mark." Determination suddenly fills his eyes – a thirst for knowledge that ignites like a spark. "When's your birthday?"

"January 1st," answers Ace warily, "Why?"

Sabo pushes Luffy off from where he's using his chest as a pillow, depositing him onto Ace and starting to pace. "Mine's the same day… Blood type?"

Ace shrugs. "Never found out."

"Mine is O, so when we do find out – don't give me that look, Ace, we'll manage it – we'll have to compare them." Sabo ponders. "Parents?"

"My mother's name was Rogue, and I never learnt who my dad was. I never learnt his last name, either – 'Portgas D' comes from her."

Sabo stares for a second before furrowing his brows. "Maybe… I never knew my parents, but I know I took my father's name." Deciding to scrap whatever idea is bouncing around in his head, Sabo paces on. "Eye colour?"

"Grey."

"Same," Sabo confirms. "Allergies?"

"One time I tried to steal a jar of honey for Luffy's birthday, and when I tried some I was sick for days," Ace informs dutifully.

"No way…" Mystified, Sabo plops back down in the dust, looking like he's thinking hard. "I'm allergic to honey too."

"Wait, are you trying to say that you and I are related somehow?" Ace says, sceptical.

Sabo shrugs, putting his hands up in a sign of surrender. "I'm just trying to juggle some theories, give me a break."

"Thee-rees?" Luffy interrupts. "What are you guys talking about?"

Ace massages his gradually growing headache. "Mystery stuff. Shush."

Luffy pouts, but closes his mouth, tracing a swirling pattern onto Ace's skin. He does that a lot – it's a habit more than anything – but Ace can't make himself complain.

Sabo looks like he's struggling for a second more before groaning, flopping back against the dusty ground. "We'll figure it out. But Ace, you know what this means, right?"

Ace does. He knows better than anybody what having a Mark means. Just a glimpse at his from one of Blackbeard's lackeys forced him and Luffy to move out of their home forever. Two of three of their small group having this kind of a curse puts them in a precarious situation.

"I do," he says simply.

* * *

 _By 'took a shine to him', I mean 'declared that he was our brother'; because, obviously, that's what one does when they like somebody._

 _After we found out that Sabo and I had… a lot on common… we agreed to stick together. Life wasn't easy – it never had been – but at least we had each other._

* * *

Luffy gives a keening cry and lunges forward, slamming his pipe lamely into Sabo's and barely shaking the older boy. It's their ninth spar of today alone and, as always, Luffy's loosing horribly. Despite the fact that Sabo evidently didn't grow up on the streets like Ace and Luffy, his instincts are almost on par with Ace's, and he can beat Luffy without breaking a sweat.

Spinning his pipe effortlessly, Sabo grins and throws himself at Luffy, sending the kid crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust as the end of the pipe slams into his chest. After a few seconds, Ace claps sarcastically as if this hasn't happened nine times already, and Sabo brushes himself off and inspects his pipe.

For what Luffy lacks in ruthless fighting skills, he makes up for in pure confidence. "Again, again!" he yells, pulling himself up and bracing his pipe with a grin. Sabo rolls his eyes.

"He never quits, does he?" he asks, turning to Ace.

"I'd like you to meet Luffy," smirks Ace. "He never, _ever_ quits."

Sabo sighs, turning back to Luffy. "Again?"

"Again!" the younger boy confirms. "I'm gonna get stronger, and stronger, and stronger then that!"

"Sure you are," Ace murmurs fondly, and then the fight starts.

* * *

Sabo jolts awake, gasping frantically. It's the third time in the last week and, even though Ace knows that he should be understanding, he's slowly running out of patience. Luffy, of course, sleeps like a log – but _he_ doesn't have that blessing, so every time Sabo wakes like this, Ace does too.

Ace sits up, using slow and wary movements. "Sab, it's alright. You awake in there?" he asks calmly. If Sabo was in his right mind, Ace wouldn't come close to this soothing voice or, god forbid, the _nickname_. But when Sabo gets like this, panicked out of his mind and seeing things that aren't really there, this is the only way to comfort him

Sabo takes a deep, shaky breath. "Ace?" The fear in his voice is something Ace doesn't want to acknowledge.

"Yep, it's me," Ace sighs. "Are you okay?"

"F-Fine." Sabo coughs. "I'm fine."

Ace shoots his brother a dubious look before deeming that the truth and rolling over, snatching the blanket back off Luffy and pushing it roughly over to the blonde. "Get some sleep. You can't fight if you're dead on your feet."

"I-" Ace can almost hear Sabo frown before the other youth shifts over and suddenly there's a hot weight against his back and a blanket is thrown over him.

Ace resists the urge to flinch away – the only person he's ever really had any physical contact with is Luffy. "What the hell, Sabo?"

Sabo's back is warm against his own. "You can't fight if you're dead on your feet either."

Ace rolls his eyes and makes a snappish comment under his breath, not wanting to admit how touched he feels, somehow. He and Sabo fall asleep easily, and no more nightmares break the other's sleep.

* * *

Ace and Luffy troop through the forest near the trash heap. The sun above is rusty but not overly hot – the dry season is coming to a gradual close, giving way to that amazing time in between when the weather is mild and the land isn't flooded. Brittle twigs crunch beneath their feet, too loud for Ace's comfort.

"Aceee," Luffy whines for the fifth time this morning, "When's Sabo coming back?"

"When he's done in the city," Ace growls yet again, fingers itching to smack the smaller boy over the head. He's not in the best of moods.

When they first planned to send Sabo into the city to pick a few pockets, it didn't seem that that much of a bad idea. When he woke this morning, the blonde seemed happy enough to be re-entering civilisation for a while anyway, and promised that he would be back by nightfall. From almost the moment he left, however, Ace has had a very, very bad feeling about this. Apparently, Luffy shares his sentiments (if his incessant whining is enough to go by).

His little brother wrinkles his nose. "Why did he go again? Ace-"

"Damnitt, Luffy, stop!" Ace snaps. For once, Luffy's mouth closes, and Ace rounds on him in frustration. "You're not the only one who's worried!"

Turning around, Ace storms further into the forest, only to stop a few seconds later and turn back around as the anger melts out of him. Luffy meets his gaze tearfully. The black-haired boy runs up to Ace and grabs his hand, eyes down. "I made Ace upset."

Ace sighs, squeezing Luffy's hand before letting go. "I'm not mad, I'm just worried too, okay? It's not your fault."

Luffy sniffs before nodding and offering Ace a smile that, while not being quite is radiant as always, shines with warmth. "Can we go to the tree?"

"Sure." Ace lets Luffy reclaim his hand and pulls him through the dry forest, unease churning inside him.

* * *

It's been three days and three nights since Sabo was meant to be back, and Ace has surpassed worried and moved onto plain irritated. Luffy's acting like somebody's died, stumbling around morosely and clinging to him, and neither can sleep well without the now-familiar warmth at their sides. Even though they've only known Sabo for a handful of months, it's startling how much he's ingrained himself in their everyday life. Without him, they feel strangely empty.

The two remaining brothers spend most of their time in the tree, Luffy swinging clumsily from branch to branch like a monkey as he tries to pass the time. Ace stands on the longest branch, the same spot where Luffy declared them brothers and Sabo finally opened up, staring out over the trash heap and waiting. The air smells like earth and smoke, nothing like the salt and sweat of the seaside city that Ace knows, and an ominous feeling still spreads inside him.

Luffy sighs again from a few branches above him, and Ace gives in.

"Luffy, we're going to the city. C'mon."

Looking shocked and then gleeful, his younger brother scrambles madly down from his perch (hitting numerous branches on the way down) before landing squarely on Ace with a laugh.

After he's punched the little moron in retaliation, Ace and Luffy set off cautiously towards the place they've avoided for more months than the older cares to count. The sun is high in the sky and the horizon is cloudless, but Ace takes no joy in the pleasant weather. When they reach the gate that leads into Edgetown, Ace tugs his scarf tighter around his neck, just to make sure that it's still there. The last time he forgot it, there were disastrous consequences.

The pair of guards, once decked in shining silver armour and self-confident smirks, wear clothes that are barely more than rags. Ace and Luffy slip past them with little trouble; even if they had been caught, Ace doubts that the men have the motivation to punish them. They don't look like they have the motivation to do anything at all. The people inside have changed too – their eyes are darker, their faces thinner and their gaits more like stumbling limps. Luffy's hand around his holds on tightly, and the kid presses himself against his side.

Ace keeps his head tilted downward, knowing that anybody can recognize him in the open, but nobody seems to have the will to. A man with filthy bandages wrapped around his arm-turned-stump is passed out in the first alleyway they come across, and Ace steers Luffy towards the next one before he can get a good look (or the man can get a good look at _them_ ).

Once they're submerged in shadow, Ace pauses and crouches down in front of his little brother, trying to calm him down. The atmosphere of this once-lively place has put him impossibly on edge; Luffy's small shoulders are tight with tension and his eyes are wide and scared. After a few seconds they move on, and Ace mentally scraps his idea of splitting up to search for their lost member. Like hell he's going to leave Luffy alone in a place like this.

They weave through silent backstreets and around bodies slumped gracelessly on the ground. Ace doesn't check whether any of them are still alive, and Luffy eventually gives up on checking too, just turning his face away silently whenever they come across another victim of what this city has become. The once-lively bars where Ace heard fairy stories of a paradise in the north and horror stories of the west are silent, windows cracked. It's hard to believe that it hasn't been decades since they were occupied.

The sun wanes through the sky, the light slowly fading to an unsettling sepia, and Ace and Luffy have yet to see nor hear anything of Sabo. They scour the city and the port, and Ace even takes a minute to peer into the old bandits' hideout. The interior is dark and dusty, but when something moves in the shadows Ace has to force himself not to sprint away. He leaves feeling like he's being watched.

Night falls, and the city is suddenly a maze of shadows that Ace is unwilling to stick around to explore. After scouring the abandoned port one last time, just to be safe, he and Luffy troop back to the trash heap miserably, cold and aching. The only interesting thing they've discovered is the new ship that was surreptitiously docking as they left. It was too dark to see it properly, but Ace would wager that it isn't one of Blackbeard's – a fight could break out.

As soon as they get back to the hut, Luffy gathers the blankets around him and descends into a perpetual state of frustration and worry in the corner. Ace isn't faring much better, but his mind is whirring too rapidly for him to even consider sleeping. He perches on top of the hut and taps a nonsense pattern into the metal.

Being an older brother is significantly more difficult when you're alone doing it.

A noise jolts Ace out of his harried thoughts, and he slips down from the roof utterly silently in the night. A crack, somebody trekking through the rubbish. His heart leaps and then falls; the footsteps sound again, and Ace can tell that they're too large and heavy to be Sabo's. His eyes narrow dangerously. Were he and Luffy seen?

Adrenaline slowly starting to trickle into his system, Ace keeps low to the ground and slips through the darkness, towards where the footsteps ring unabashed through the air. He'd guess they were around twenty feet from their small hut, concealed by a hump in the trash. The footsteps get closer. There's no doubt in Ace's mind now that they're headed towards their makeshift home, towards Luffy. He scowls.

The person, tall and shrouded in darkness, appears at the top of the hill. Ace darts forward, ready to attack, when they finally come into focus and-

Red hair. Three scars over his eye, and an uncharacteristic frown on his face. A brown cape and white shirt. _Shanks_. The only father figure Ace has ever known – he would recognize him anywhere, even if it has been seven years since he saw him. Ace can feel his heart melting into a hunk of confusion and love and millions of unexplored emotions, and he can do nothing to stop it.

Shanks, and on his back, Sabo.

* * *

 **you might have noticed that the name of this fic has changed! that's cause it has! ...yep thats it**

 **I am working hard on this, so a review or two is greatly appreciated! Thank you, ily xxx**


	4. 1-4 - The Selfless Child

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **PLEASE GO LOOK AT IT, I'VE WORKED VERY HARD AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONCEPT ART AND SKETCHES THERE. PLEASE?**

 **THANK YOU YOU'RE GREAT**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 – The Selfless Child**

* * *

"Shanks…!" Ace tries to say, but his voice comes out as a quiet croak. " _Shanks!_ "

The man pauses on his descent down the hill, hands holding the motionless Sabo still on his back, and looks around. "Hello?"

"Shanks!" This time, Ace's voice comes out clear and firm. That's all it takes for him to sprint across the remaining ten feet or so between him and the sailor, skidding to a stop just before he hits his legs and staring up at the man incredulously.

Shanks' brows furrow for a second before his face melts into shock. "Ace?! Is that you?!"

Ace doesn't know what question to voice first. He settles for, "What are you doing here?!"

"What are _you_ doing here?!"

"I live here-"

"Ace!"

Luffy comes running full-pelt out of the hut, obviously having heard Ace's desperate yell. He comes to a stop beside his older brother, pipe clenched in his hands. "What's going-" His eyes land on Sabo. "Sabo!"

Luffy moves to start towards Shanks, probably to try and lamely threaten him, but Ace holds him back. "Luffy, this is Shanks. He's a friend."

"But he's got Sabo!"

"I know, but-"

"Wait, wait!" Shanks' voice grabs their attention again. "Look, I came by to visit you again, Ace. You and the girl I love. We know that the eastern seas were taken over by Blackbeard, and we wanted to make sure you were alright. On our way through the city, we found Sabo here-" (he indicates to the boy slumped across his back) "- knocked out in the street. We set the doctor on him and when he woke up for a little while, he asked us to take him to the trash heap, where he and his brothers lived." Shanks runs a hand through his familiar red hair. "Are you saying that _you're_ those brothers?!"

Luffy nods vigorously, always up for defending their bond as brothers. "We're Sabo's brothers!" he says, like it needs any clarification.

"I just-" Shanks struggles. "Ace, what are you and some kids doing living out on the trash heap? What happened while I was gone?" His voice softens. "Are you okay?"

Ace opens his mouth, then closes it again. _Is_ he? It's been a while since anybody has really asked him that. He swallows. "Look, maybe you should come inside. I'll explain everything." Shanks shoots him a dubious look – g _od_ , Ace still can't believe it's him – but follows Ace and his little brother back to their tiny home, which he'll probably barely fit into.

It's never really hit Ace how much has changed.

* * *

 _After a few months with Sabo, Shanks came back. He felt really, really guilty for leaving me, especially after seeing what had happened to us, and I guess that meant a lot to me. It's safe to say that I had a lot of explaining to do._

* * *

Shanks looks uncomfortable as he squeezes himself into their small hideout, but he manages it. Ace lights their single lantern, saved for when it's desperately needed, and in its dim light, Shanks' face is clearly visible. After seven years he looks a little more harried, eyes darker and forehead more furrowed, but apart from that he looks largely the same. The man hefts Sabo off his back and lies him gently on the floor. As Luffy immediately starts poking and prodding at his unconscious brother, Shanks turns to Ace.

"He's just asleep," the sailor says, crossing his legs. "Luckily it was only some street thugs who got to him and not one of Blackbeard's men."

"Did you see his…?" Ace trails off.

"What?"

It's evident that Shanks hasn't seen Sabo's mark, and Ace'll keep it that way for now. Things are confusing enough already. "Nothing. It doesn't matter." Ace shifts forward. "Did you really come to visit me and Makino?"

"Yeah, I-" Shanks tilts his head. "How do you know her name's Makino?"

A memory enters Ace's head unwarranted ( _a dark alley, rain dripping through dark green hair, misty eyes rolling back and a small, shivering body against his own_ ). _God_. Shanks doesn't know. He doesn't know that the 'girl he loves' is dead, died giving birth to the boy only a few feet away. How the hell is Ace supposed to break it to him?

Ace glances to Luffy and Sabo. "Look, can we talk outside?"

Shanks narrows his eyes but nods, still looking vaguely overwhelmed. Ace knows that he looks the same way. Luffy doesn't pay them any mind as they slip outside, still shaking Sabo.

The night air helps to clear Ace's head. Shanks sits down in the dust and Ace plops down opposite him, sighing silently. "What is it, Ace?"

"Makino…" Ace grits his teeth. "A few months after you left, I met Makino after she was kicked out of the hospital for not having enough money. She was going into labour, and she had her child successfully – I took care of him, and left the bandits so we could start a new life away from them."

"And what happened to Makino?" Shanks looks like he already knows the answer. His head is tilted down, eyes shadowed.

"She didn't make it." Ace can barely keep his voice even.

Shanks doesn't move for what feels like a lifetime before he sighs heavily and looks up at Ace. Sorrow swims in his eyes, a deep pain that Ace feels physically uncomfortable looking at. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Ace shrugs. "I've seen worse."

Shanks lets out a world-weary sigh. "Of course you have." A pause. "I'm guessing one of your 'brothers' is my son, then?"

Ace nods, dragging a finger through the thickly-caked dust. "The smaller one with black hair. His name's Luffy, and he doesn't know you're his father."

For the first time since he got here, Shanks cracks a smile. "'Luffy'? He seems like a handful."

Ace rolls his eyes, feeling the atmosphere relax slightly. "You have no idea."

"What about Sabo?" asks Shanks.

"He came from the west," Ace says, echoing Sabo's own words. "And he was really, really lucky to get out."

Shanks' eyes soften, and he ruffles Ace's hair. "I'm glad you three found each other. Brothers aren't people you can find easily. Should we head in?"

Ace nods, suddenly feeling a whole lot lighter.

* * *

 _Shanks stayed with us for a good few months, and while he had been a father to me in the past, he was fond of Luffy (his actual son) and Sabo, too. He mourned Makino, and shared stories with Luffy about her – he's the only person I've ever seen who can get Luffy to shut up for a few seconds. He told Sabo stories about the west too, about how things were getting better there. Me and Sabo both knew that it was all bull, and Shanks knew it, but it was comforting either way._

* * *

Shanks' whole crew are here too, so staying in the hideout doesn't seem like the most logical option. Sabo and Luffy – the former who has been on the run for more than a year and the latter having never slept in a proper bed – find the spare room in the bowels of Shanks' ship to be the lap of luxury. Ace vaguely remembers this place, so it doesn't come as so much of a shock; he still feels like he could drown in the soft, warm covers of the spare single bed, though. Luffy spends about half an hour just wandering around the _East Wind_ , beaming at crewmembers and balancing precariously on the figurehead.

While most crewmembers remember Ace, none of them know Luffy or Sabo, and there's a betting pool going around about which one is actually Shanks' son. There was never any proof that one of them was his son in the first place, but the crew know their captain well. Most people bet on Luffy, because of his carefree nature and, just like Shanks, deep brown eyes. Some vote for Sabo simply because of how well he and Shanks get along.

While Sabo and Luffy are his family – Ace knows this, fiercely defends it, reminds himself of it every day – Ace can't help but fall into a familiar routine with Shanks and his crew. He and his brothers wake with the sun, the anchored ship rocking beneath them as they lie in a tangle of limbs on the bed with the sun on their faces. They eat fish for most meals – fresh, _clean_ fish that isn't stolen or made up of more mould than meat.

The trio are still reluctant to enter the city, but Shanks seems to sense this, and spends long, damp days filled with pale sunlight on a quiet beach on the other side of the island, teaching them how to swim. Sabo picks it up quickly and soon falls in love with the water, staying under the waves for long enough to give Ace a heart attack sometimes. Ace isn't too bad at swimming himself, but the water's too cold for his liking and the salt stings his eyes.

Luffy, of course, is an abomination. Ace didn't think it was possible for somebody to flail every limb and jerk around like they're being electrocuted and not move in any direction, but apparently his little brother will continue to defy both his expectations and the expectations of the laws of physics. No matter how hard Shanks tries to teach him, Luffy is so bad at swimming that it's painful to watch him try. Shanks looks near tears by the end of it.

Between mornings on the sand and afternoons spent fishing for humble meals, Sabo teaches Ace how to read and write. The symbols and sounds refuse to line up in Ace's mind for the first few sessions, a mess of scribbles that make no sense to him, but soon they start to connect in his mind. He learns how to write 'Luffy', then 'Sabo', before learning his own name. He keeps mistaking 'A' for a triangle – something Luffy is quick to make fun of him for, despite the fact that the kid can't read at all – and takes to doodling triangles on the corners of his pages, throwing them together into nonsense drawings.

Most nights, Sabo helps Ace read from a novel he borrowed from Shanks, leaving Luffy to pout in the corner. On some nights, though (and these nights are always the best) Shanks tells the trio of brothers some story or other of his time as a young sailor. Ace suspects that most are just fairy tales – after all, whoever heard of somebody born with a bright red, round nose? And surely elephants aren't _that_ large – but they're still entertaining, and Luffy adores them

In fact, Luffy adores a lot more nowadays. Though Luffy is rarely without his blinding grin – rarely meaning never – he seems so much more _alive_. The kid smiles wider, talks louder, exudes so much _love_ that it hits Ace in the gut every time he sees it. He's at his happiest, dancing in the rain that comes more and more frequently as the days go by no matter how many colds he gets.

Ace can see it in Sabo too. His nightmares become less and less frequent, his smiles brighter and brighter as the days go by, and Ace feels that now he has _all_ of Sabo, instead of just the part ravaged by the horrors of the west. Who knows? Maybe Ace is changing too, and he just can't see it. He hopes, somehow, that he is; if he's not entirely happy, Sabo and Luffy won't be either, and that's the opposite of what he wants.

Life is _good_.

Luffy never starts calling Shanks his father, even after he finds out what his relation to the man is. As time goes on, sure, he starts saying 'Shanks' in the way that somebody else would say 'dad' – but it's never quite official. Shanks doesn't seem to mind too much. He doesn't really mind much in general as long as his crew and 'his kids' are safe (they've been dubbed that by both the crew and Shanks on multiple occasions. Ace has learnt to roll with it.)

Sabo jokingly calls Shanks 'pops' a few times, and the man takes it in his stride, albeit with a larger smile than usual. He and the man get along well and after a few weeks on the _East Wind_ , Shanks tells Ace quietly that he chose a damn good pair of brothers. Ace rolls his eyes and says 'of course I did', even as he flushes slightly with embarrassment.

Even in this sudden happiness that Ace can't help but bask in, however, the silver lining comes with a grey cloud. Shanks and his crew are sailing south in only two or three more months, leaving Ace, Sabo and Luffy to go back to how things were before. They'll survive, no doubt about it. Ace doesn't doubt that he and his brothers could survive just about anything.

But they'll still be two eleven-year olds and a kid going on eight, going back to living in a trash heap with nothing but a tree and a promise for company. Ace knows that while Luffy hasn't thought that far ahead (he's _Luffy_ , of course he hasn't), but Sabo is probably hardly looking forward to leaving this ship and Shanks seems reluctant for time to pass too quickly, too.

Ace's time with the one man he'd call his father is dwindling, and he hates it.

* * *

Ace scratches a messy triangle into the table with his fingernail as Sabo finishes telling their story. Luffy fell asleep a few hours ago, and Sabo and Ace have only now agreed to come clean with Shanks about their Marks, and the strange similarities between them.

"That's pretty interesting." If Shanks is shocked, he doesn't show it. If anything, he looks inquisitive. "I've never heard of two people with the same Gift before. Hey, have your powers awakened yet?"

Ace wrinkles his nose, digging his fingernail deeper into the table. "Nope, not even close."

Shanks laughs. "Just wait and see, firecracker. I mean, I've seen some people with the stupidest damn powers you can imagine. But I doubt that the one split Gift in the world will be completely lame."

"'Firecracker'?" Ace repeats, shooting Sabo a look.

Shanks whistles out of the corner of his mouth and insists that he never said anything of the sort.

* * *

"I'm tired of you guys teasing me!" Luffy's young voice rings out in the early morning, and Ace ignores it determinedly as a yawn forces its way out of his mouth. "I'm gonna grow up to be a strong sailor some day!"

"Oh yeah, Anchor?" Shanks laughs heartily. "You don't look like much to me!"

Luffy growls – Sabo and Ace exchange looks that say, ' _that's cute_ ' – and raises-

"Luffy, wait is that a-"

"Why do you have a knife-"

Silence, before Luffy cries out in pain and topples off the figurehead.

* * *

"Our little brother stabbed himself," Ace says dumbly to Sabo a few minutes later, outside the ship's infirmary.

Sabo shoots him a deadpan look and goes back to worrying.

* * *

Four months pass in a blur. Sabo and Ace's birthday is celebrated with one of Shanks' infamous parties, loud enough to keep the whole city awake. It's nice – if unusual – that people are this happy that Ace is alive. He's not complaining by any means.

All too soon, Shanks and his crew have to leave. Déjà vu floods Ace as Shanks hugs him, tells him that they'll meet again soon, messes up his hair. Sabo smiles through slightly misty eyes as he gets the same treatment, already-unruly hair sticking up everywhere. Luffy looks surprisingly solemn when Shanks drops his straw hat onto his head, and clings into him for a long time when they hug.

All too soon, Shanks and his crew have cast off, leaving the three brothers on the end of the pier. Shanks waves and waves until his arms must be getting tired, and Ace, Sabo and Luffy return the favour.

"See ya, dad!" Luffy calls.

Shanks nearly falls off the _East Wind_.

* * *

 _When Shanks eventually did leave, we moved back into our little hut on trash mountain. Me and Sabo's powers didn't awaken for a good few months – I'm pretty sure we were both at least twelve, maybe more – and it was frustrating as hell. We still sparred every day, 100 times without fail, but it's not as much of a challenge when you know somebody as well as I knew my little brothers._

* * *

Though battered, their hideout is still standing. Luffy makes himself at home relatively easily. Sabo and Ace, though they both miss the _East Wind_ just about as much as they think it's physically possible to miss something, know that they have to get used to living here again. Flexibility is a virtue when living a life like they do.

They sleep for the first few nights in a familiar order (Luffy nearest the wall, the human radiator that is Portgas D. Ace in the middle, and Sabo on the outside so that his nightmares don't wake Luffy). The small band of brothers even go and visit the tree again, and it's testament to how much Ace has grown that he can reach most of the lower branches easily and climb up in a split second. Sabo's not far behind either, even though Luffy's still a pipsqueak.

And so, slowly but surely, life evolves into what it once was before Shanks and his crew returned to Edgetown. Food is stolen and stale and clothes are covered in three layers of grime, and muscles ache and sting from long days of sparring and hunting. Even though life is hard, it's also simple, and Ace tries to take joy in the little things; Luffy's ever-growing smile, Sabo's bright eyes, the light of the moon from their tree, the feeling of being surrounded by warmth in the now damp nights.

Ace scratches a triangle into the wall beside their makeshift doorway after Luffy says that the shape reminds him of them. There are three sides, connected and making one whole. Whenever he looks at that sign (and Ace knows that Sabo and Luffy alike feel the same way) he hopes silently that he'll never have to leave his brothers. They have so much _love_ to give out that if he was witnessing it and not receiving it, Ace would feel uncomfortable. The triangle becomes a sign of their teamwork.

Another dry season and another rainy season pass, and while Luffy turns into a clumsy, giggling nine-year old, Ace and Sabo grow into gangly, long-limbed twelve year olds in a joint celebration that consists of some stolen sake and a concussion (Ace doesn't particularly want to think back to it). Sabo's hair starts to grow out, reaching just above his chin in soft blonde curls, and Ace's strength increases like there's no tomorrow. It's a little before Luffy's birthday when their powers finally, _finally_ awaken.

It's a day wet and cold enough that the trio of brothers can make excuses to hide in their hut, under the fraying blankets that are in obvious need of replacements. The ground is hard and moist, and Luffy shivers violently, tucked in between Ace and Sabo. "C-Cold…!" he manages occasionally but aside from that, the kid is silent.

Ace is close to sleep when he smells it. "Hey, Sab, is someone burning something out there?" he slurs.

"I dunno- ACE!"

Sabo's panicked yell has Ace up and alert in seconds. Despite the yelp, however, no enemies have entered the hideout. Ace lets himself freak out for a few more seconds before turning to his brother, annoyed. Beside him, Luffy snores lightly. "What the hell, Sabo?"

"Y-Y-Your-!" Sabo points lamely at the blankets on Ace's shoulder, reaching out and pulling a slightly dopy Luffy closer to him. Unconcerned, Ace turns towards his shoulder, still twitching his nose at the smell of burning.

And he's met with the sight of his shoulder, completely engulfed in flames.

Later on, Ace will deny vehemently that he did anything even slightly uncivilised. When asked, the raven-haired boy defends his 'manly and completely reasonable yell of alarm'. If you were to ask his brothers, however, they would probably crack up laughing at the mere memory of the incident.

So, let's face it, Ace veritably screams and smacks at his shoulder madly, trying to snuff out the fire burning merrily on his skin. That he somehow can't feel. No matter how hard he tries, the flames refuse to die, and soon he turns to Sabo in desperation. "Help me here!"

"Don't look at me!" Sabo raises his hands in surrender, only now _they're_ on fire too, and Ace is half-sure that he's dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or both.

If Ace screamed, then Sabo _screeches_. Flailing smoking hands like a maniac, he shoves Luffy out of his arms and desperately tries to…Wipe the fire off his hands? Something like that. The fugitive runs his hands along the ground in a panic but, as they did with Ace, the flames that coat his fingers like glowing gloves refuse to die.

"Wait, wait!" Ace yells, as Sabo looks like he's about to hyperventilate. "Wait-"

"Oh yeah, Ace, I'll wait for my goddamn hands to burn off so you can talk!" Even on fire, it appears that Sabo's capable of sarcasm.

"Very funny, asshole." Shoulder still on fire, Ace takes a deep breath. "Look. It doesn't hurt."

Sabo pauses in his frenzied movements, before staring at his hands in disbelief. "Huh. It doesn't."

"Sabo, do you think this could be our…"

"I think it might be."

The pair look into each other's eyes for a long minute. "Well," Sabo says shakily, running his (still on fire) hand through his hair. "I guess Shanks did _not_ mess around when he called you a firecracker."

* * *

 _Me and Sabo took a while to get used to it. I wouldn't be surprised if Luffy became fireproof because of how many times me and Sabo accidently burned him (and, honestly, he didn't seem to mind too much)._

 _So we lived on for a few more years. Me and Sabo got our tattoos-_

* * *

The tattoo artist only looks two or three years older than the thirteen-year old Ace and Sabo, but he still shoots them an unimpressed look from under the rim of his spotted hat. "Scram. I don't tattoo street kids."

The man looks like the picture of a typical easterner that somebody would find in a dictionary. With dark skin and hair, his eyes are shadowed from sleep deprivation and his young face is gaunt, limbs thin and looking slightly too long for his body. He's sixteen at most, and Ace gets defensive easily.

"You don't look much older than us! And we have money!"

The teen rolls dark grey eyes. "Sure. I don't take bottle caps as payment, kid. So _scram_."

Sabo decides to break up the inevitable argument before it begins. Taking out the heavy purse which holds everything the trio have earned in the last month, he offers it to the tattoo artist for inspection. The hat-wearing young man takes it cautiously, rifling through the coins and notes that line its seams.

After a second, he snorts but pockets the bag anyway. "Most of them are counterfeit anyway, so I don't know why I'm bothering." He stretches his long arms, the black and yellow hoodie he wears suddenly seeming too large for his skinny frame, and starts to rifle around in one of the draws behind the grimy counter. "Why not. But, fair warning, you will owe me more favours than you have fingers."

"Thirty-one favours comin' right up," Ace mocks petulantly, and the man ignores him completely.

As Sabo settles into the creaky chair, he apologises silently to his previous family, who would no doubt be scandalised by the fact that he's getting a tattoo at thirteen. His request is simple and, despite how young he is, the man is skilled. The triangle on Sabo's right wrist, one side blue, one side red and one side yellow, is bandaged deftly and with no small amount of roughness. Sabo loves it anyway.

Ace's request is a little more unusual but, of course, the tattoo artist manages it. In a way similar to how Ace used to mistakenly spell his name when Sabo first taught him how to write nearly two years ago, his name is tattooed vertically onto his bicep, a triangle replacing the first letter. He seems happy enough with it, and neither Ace nor Sabo will allow Luffy to get a tattoo at his tender age, so that's when the brothers take their leave. The tattoo artist's eyes follow them until they're long out of sight.

A smirk curls his lips.

* * *

 _-And Luffy honestly never changed_ -

* * *

Ace wakes up in the middle of the night, and before his mind even registers what's going on around him, he sighs, knowing what must have woken him up. _Another nightmare_. If one thing hasn't improved in these past years, then it's Sabo's mental state.

Cracking an eye open, Ace is surprised to find that somebody is already curled up beside Sabo, whispering the reassurances that Ace usually would as Sabo, half-asleep, slowly calms down. Luffy doesn't look too tired, but concern mars his features and makes him look older than his ten years.

"S'okay, Sab. Ace's okay. Luffy's okay," the black-haired child whispers, seeming not to have noticed that Ace is awake. It hits Ace hard; Luffy's imitating him, comforting their blonde brother, taking that responsibility onto his own small shoulders.

He's growing up but, somehow, exactly as kind as he always has been. If anything, that's the one thing that Ace admires about his brothers. They're good people, with enough light and love to blind you, who would give up arms and legs and hearts to help their precious people. Ace is the opposite. He's rotten to the core.

Even after Luffy goes silent, Ace doesn't get to sleep. He doesn't feel worthy of a visit to their tree.

* * *

 _-and, somehow, those were some of the best years of my life._

 _Well, strap in I guess, cause things go wrong._

* * *

 **If I get any reviews saying 'illuminati confirmed' I swear to god**

 **Anyway, go check out my art!**


	5. 1-5 - The Luckiest Card of All

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **PLEASE GO LOOK AT IT, I'VE WORKED VERY HARD AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONCEPT ART AND SKETCHES THERE. PLEASE?**

 **THANK YOU ILY**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – The Luckiest Card of All**

* * *

Ace wakes before the sun, shaggy hair falling into his eyes and tickling his forehead. He's long since given up on keeping it trimmed to a reasonable length. Luffy's breathing lightly against his knee, and he can fee Sabo's back against his side, curled up and warm. After a few minutes of quiet half-wakefulness, the black haired boy opens his eyes and squints into the dull morning sun.

It's the best time of year, when it's not too hot but the rain doesn't threaten do drown them, and the days are humid yet slightly breezy. Once Ace's vision clears, he can see that the sky is a pale blue-grey through the mouth of the cave, and the smell of dust and scrap metal that's so familiar consumes his senses. Sitting up and gently shoving Luffy off him, the fourteen-year old stretches and clicks his stiff joints.

It's only a few days after his and Sabo's birthday (fourteen, and s _till_ not in control of their Gift), and Ace knows that the thing that only slightly bothered him when he first saw it is now going to be weighing on his mind for at least the next few days. The brothers, after hearing from a tramp somewhere that Blackbeard and his forces were growing lax, had taken a cautious trip into the city for Ace and Sabo's birthday. All they'd done was stolen a few sweet bakery treats to share and shown Sabo their childhood haunts, but just before they left, Ace caught sight of three new ships in the harbour.

Navy ships.

He hadn't seen them for years, but Ace would recognise that insignia anywhere. Though they probably won't stick around for long – Blackbeard's men will drive them out soon enough – Ace knows that the navy being here doesn't exactly spell good news for them. They'll have to stay out of sight for the next few days and hope that nothing happens that could drive the men on that ship into their lonesome area of the vast trash heap.

Ace stands and makes his way outside, making a beeline for the tree so that he can get a good look out towards the city. If they day is clear, he'll be able to see the ocean and maybe even the harbour. It pays to keep track of your enemies, even if they don't know that you exist. He slips effortlessly onto a long branch, plopping down and crossing his legs in the special place where Luffy dubbed them brothers, and squints in the direction of Edgetown.

Though the day is pleasant, a low mist hangs over the ocean and Ace can't make out anything. If the naval ships are still there, then he's not able to see them. Still, he decides that he should probably wake his brothers, just in case something does happen and they need to make a quick getaway. Hopping down and re-entering the hut, it takes a lot of whining and complaining, but Sabo and Luffy eventually wake. The bags under Sabo's eyes are far less pronounced than they've ever been, something that Ace is thankful for. It's been five years since Sabo's family was taken from him, and he only hopes that the other boy realises that he has a new family he can rely on now.

Said blonde stretches with a long yawn, rubbing his eyes. "Why're we awake again?"

"There're a few navy ships in the bay," Ace says shortly, "And I thought it would be better to stay on our toes for the next few days. How about we head into the forest for today?"

Sabo grumbles but agrees, trying to shake the fatigue out of his system, and Luffy bounds into the situation with a grin and endless enthusiasm. "Can we go to the beach again? I wanna learn how to swim!"

"No, you suck at swimming."

"But-"

"No."

Luffy pouts, turning to Sabo. "Ace is being stingy!"

Sabo smirks knowingly. "It's only cause he's too much of a wimp to get salt water in his eyes, Lu. I'm sure if he was less squeamish then-"

"Okay, we're going to the beach!" Ace growls, tussling with Sabo briefly as the brothers emerge from the mouth of their hideout as one unit. He has a point to prove.

* * *

The water is cold and salty and utterly unpleasant, but Ace makes a point of staying underwater for a few long seconds before he surfaces. Sticking a salt-covered tongue out at Sabo, who's swimming effortlessly a few feet away, Ace casually saves his youngest brother from drowning and tries to keep a rhythm, treading water in the shallows. The wind is a little stronger than usual today, teasing at bitter but not quite there.

After a few minutes of casual banter and swimming, Luffy slogs over to the shore and starts poking around in the sand, bored. Sabo and Ace race each other a few times, back and forth in a lazy loop of the lagoon, before Luffy calls out from the shore. "Hey, guys, look!"

Sabo and Ace glance over. Luffy's fingers are covered in a strange, black ink-like substance, and he's poking at something coconut-shaped that the liquid appears to have spurted from.

"Does it burn?" Ace asks.

"Nope!" replies Luffy.

"Then you're good to go." Losing interest, Ace turns back to Sabo and promptly challenges his brother to yet another race, grinning from under his sopping wet bangs. Soon they're neck-and-neck again, laughing around rivulets of salt water, and they don't get out of the water for a good few hours. It's around midday when Sabo and Ace finally manage to drag themselves ashore.

"Luffy!" Ace calls, knowing that the kid is probably hiding around here somewhere. "C'mon, we're gonna hunt for lunch."

Luffy practically bounces out of the forest, grinning mischievously. After a few seconds of curious stares from his brothers, the ten-year old turns around, revealing the black ink smudged into something that vaguely resembles Ace and Sabo's Mark on the back of his neck. "Look! I'm just like Ace and Sabo!"

Accustomed to Luffy's whims, Ace rolls his eyes. "Get that stuff off, moron. I've told you over and over that having a mark isn't a good thing."

"It so is! You guys are stupid."

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are-"

Sabo yawns pointedly, and Ace grudgingly shuts up. All the way back, Luffy trials out his 'Ace impression' (which is a rather sorry impression, in Ace's opinion) and struts around, sticking his nose in the air and waving his pipe like a maniac. Sabo can't hold in his laughter. "Traitor," Ace tells him, mock-indignant.

They hunt for food under the sun, enjoying the simplicity of it all. All too soon, after an afternoon of chasing each other through the trees, the sun starts to slip through the sky and yet another day is gone. Ace could spend years like this, he realises, as they stroll back towards their hideout in a gold-tinged world of sunset. He slings an arm around his brothers' shoulders and they look slightly surprised for a second, before they smile and take it the impromptu affection willingly – or, in Luffy's case, eagerly.

"How about we go north someday?" says Ace abruptly. "When we get older, we can travel to find the Revolutionary Army together, get strong enough to change something."

Sabo looks thoughtful for a second, staring at the ground. "We would do it together?" Ace simply nods. "Then sure."

Luffy, of course, is all for it. He mimes a lame-looking punch. "I'll kick their butts! And I'll get stronger than you two losers, too!" Ace and Sabo, as always, only laugh and exchange knowing looks.

"I don't know about that, pipsqueak," Ace teases lightly. "Pretty lame lookin' punch you've got there."

Luffy looks like he's about to retort angrily when something in the bushes behind them cracks.

The three brothers spin as one, pipes out in front of them and in a familiar formation. After four years of living like this, the procedure is as familiar as the back of their hands. Ace stands in front, and yells, "Who's there?"

A moment of pure silence, before there's sharp rustle from behind them and Luffy is wrenched into the trees.

"Luffy!" Sabo takes off running, Ace right behind him as a cold chill slips through him. If they dare to lay a hand on _his_ little brother, there'll be hell to pay. Unforgiving thorns and nettles pull at their legs, and adrenaline pulses through Ace like a drug. He runs faster, swerving through trees and barely knowing whether he's going in the right direction. War drums pound through his ears.

Sabo trips over a tree root and goes sprawling, crying out as he hits the ground with a sickening crack. Blood starts to stream down his forehead and by the time Ace has wrenched him up, wrapping his brother's arm over him as the blonde's head lolls on his shoulder, the forest is silent. Luffy – and his attacker – are gone.

The horn of a navy ship blares from the direction of the port, and it hits him.

"The navy – Sabo, they got him!" A million different explanations shoot through Ace's mind. The mark painted onto the back of Luffy's neck. Black hair, tanned skin, his startling resemblance to Ace. He could well be mistaken for his older brother, the marked fugitive who is running from the government and practically everybody else.

Sabo's eyes roll back, and he loses consciousness. This, at least, startles Ace back into coherency. He winces, looking down at blood-stained blonde hair. That fall must've been harder than he thought.

Making up his mind to throw caution to the wind, Ace heaves Sabo over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and starts to run back in the direction of their hideout. Stinging nettles bite at his ankles, sending a cold pain through his legs, but he barely notices through the haze of adrenaline and exhaustion in equal measure that run through his system.

All too soon, they reach the hideout and Ace dumps Sabo on the grimy floor. The blonde doesn't move. "I'll be back," Ace pants, before he takes off again.

The city is at its busiest – given, this isn't exactly bustling. For the first time since he was an infant, Ace pounds through main streets and open avenues without a care for who sees him. Men returning from work stare, and mothers pull their children inside as Ace crashes through. If somebody does recognise him, then he's gone by the time they think to chase after him. Sweat drips into his eyes stinging the rashes caused by nettles that coat his shins.

The city blurs, and though the earth feels like it's shaking beneath him, Ace forces his sluggish legs to run on. His knees buckle at every other step, and by the time that he reaches the port, the naval ship is only a speck on the horizon.

Ace tries to calm his breathing. He's jumping to conclusions. A simple explanation is that maybe Luffy got pulled away by an animal, or some thug from the city. The chances that the navy came to this island just because there was potentially a Marked kid here are ridiculously slim. Luffy is fine. Luffy is absolutely fine.

Ace's eyes land on the docks, and his heart breaks.

His little brother's straw hat, the one that he point-blank refuses to take off (obviously, because it's his _father's_ ), lies abandoned on the wooden boardwalk. Before Ace has registered what he's doing he takes off, legs moving without his permission, and he almost doesn't realise it when he reaches the end of the pier. Luffy's hat lies at his feet. Blood is spattered over the rim.

* * *

 _The government took Luffy when he was ten and we had just turned fourteen. Even now, that's probably what I hate the most. I've seen them do some awful, awful things during my time with the revolutionaries, but he was just a kid. He was_ _innocent_ _. They took him, and Sabo and I knew that we weren't strong enough to get him back. The day they took him, I watched the naval ship until it was long out of sight before trudging back to the hideout, feeling the most helpless I've ever felt._

* * *

It takes Sabo a good few hours to wake up after his unfriendly meeting with the forest floor, and when he does, Ace can't bring himself to talk to him. From his place curled up in the corner, Ace can hear his brother sitting up with a groan, can see him looking around in confusion in his mind's eye. "Ace?"

Ace grunts, curling up tighter. His limbs ache, and all of his tears are long gone, his face feeling hot and clammy in the aftermath of his grief. He can't face Sabo. Not when he let them take their little brother.

Sabo shifts over and when he speaks again, concern is thick in his voice. "Ace, are you okay?" He pokes at him a few times, fingers cold against Ace's spine, before his light pokes give way to forceful nudging. "Are you hurt? What's wrong?" A second of silence before he says, voice thick with dread, "Where's Luffy?"

Ace doesn't answer, folding himself in tighter and hiding his face.

Sabo asks again and then again, anger filling his voice. "Ace, where's Luffy? Where's our little brother?" More and more indignance fills the teen's voice before it breaks in the middle of a sentence, and Ace can hear him slump against the opposite wall. Soon, as he asks, frustration and anguish fill Sabo's voice. He's expecting the worst. He's terrified.

"Ace, _please!_ " A sloppy blow to his back, and Sabo sounds close to tears. "What happened to Luf-"

"He's gone!"

Sabo silences in an instant, and Ace sits up and rounds on him. There are no more tears for Ace. His eyes are filled with stone and iron, but no tears mar them.

"Luffy's gone, and it's all my goddamn fault! _Our_ fault! We were the ones that couldn't protect him and now the marines have him, and they'll probably kill him and there's nothing. We. Can. Do. About. It."

Ace rolls back over, faces the wall again and squeezes his eyes closed. He doesn't want to think about the heartbroken, terrified look on Sabo's face as he spoke. He doesn't want to think about anything. He had one goal in this world, one job, and now that Luffy might already be dead, the job is failed. Luffy's _ten_. They were meant to travel north together and always stay together and never let each other get hurt.

"Then we'll get stronger." Sabo's voice shakes dangerously. Ace rolls over. His brother is smiling furiously through his tears, forcing his lips into a smile even as his bottom lip wobbles and water tracks down his face. He knows just as well as Ace that their brother is probably already dead. "We'll get really strong, okay, and we'll-" He chokes on his words slightly. "We'll find him. If there's even a tiny chance that our kid brother is alive then we have to protect him, okay? We will. That's what brothers are for."

It doesn't take any more than that for Ace to lock Sabo in a hug, a hug which the blonde returns with a desperate manner Ace has only seen in their youngest brother. They fall asleep in a teary heap, dreading the morning, salt drying on their shoulders. A warmth is missing from their group now, and nothing feels right without Luffy anymore. The night is punctuated with nightmares, and neither of the two remaining brothers gets much sleep.

* * *

Three days after the incident, three days after Luffy was taken, Ace and Sabo make a decision.

Nothing feels like it should anymore. There are three pipes, three spaces on their makeshift bed, three stolen sake cups. There are two brothers. Ace keeps turning around, expecting to find his little brother tailing after him like a lost puppy and seeing nothing but the rolling gusts and barren land. After being around somebody for ten years, having them wrenched from your grasp is disconcerting at best.

Ace and Sabo decide to leave the island, to get stronger and to meet up again someday to find their youngest member. Ace opts to head north. He'll take the journey that they dreamed of taking together but this time, he'll be taking it alone. The revolutionary army may not know it, but he'll be the best damn member they've ever had – he'll have to be, if he's going to get that strong.

Sabo choses to travel the gruelling route to the south, the land (or warzone, depending on how you look at it) controlled by the government. He'll join the army and rise in rank until he has access to the kind of information that can help him track down his brother, and he'll do everything that it takes to do so. A part of Ace yearns for them to stay together, for the long nights of their childhood spent curled up under the stars, and he knows that Sabo feels the same way. But they can't go on this adventure without their little brother.

So they walk together down to the harbour where they met, uncaring of who sees and who recognizes them. This isn't home anymore, and they'll be long-gone by the time the Blackbeard Pirates have been called. They don't have much money, just what's been saved for the last few months, and it's barely enough to buy one boat, let alone two. They end up haggling two rafts out of a harried-looking salesman, and lug them out of the city and to the beach where they played only three days ago. Ace suddenly feels a lot older.

They decide to leave Luffy's hat in the hideout, just in case he does manage to escape and comes back. They don't hold a funeral, or anything sappy like that, simply because Ace refuses to believe that Luffy – 'harder to kill than a cockroach' Luffy – is dead. His and Sabo's separation isn't a teary one but they hug for a long time, just preparing to leave their home; Ace for the first time, Sabo for the second.

When Ace pulls away, Sabo shoots him a weak grin. Ace takes in just how much he's changed. Sabo's face is more angular, alluding to the man that he'll grow into, and his blonde hair is shorn short under that familiar top hat. His cravat covers his neck, just as Ace's scarf covers his own, and their identical silver eyes meet.

"I'll miss you," says Sabo simply. Ace wonders how it all went so wrong. Sabo's face is that of a man with no more tears left. Too cold for rain.

"I know," Ace replies simply. "But we have to walk on. I'll miss you too."

"We'll get stronger?"

For the first time in what feels like years, Ace cracks a smile. "Stronger and stronger, and stronger than that."

Above, the sun tracks an auburn trail through the sky, and they stand for a second more before moving to their rafts. Pushing his out into the deep blue waters and clambering on, Ace doesn't look back towards his home, and Sabo doesn't either. He has two oars and a compass, and his pipe, but aside from that Ace has nothing in the world.

Though neither Ace nor Sabo can control their Gift yet (all their fire seems capable of doing is appearing at the most inconvenient of times), Ace hopes that once he gets to the north and finds the revolutionary army, somebody there can help him master his. The people of that strange northern land are – from what he's heard – a lot more accepting of Gifts.

Broken out of his thoughts, Ace lifts his arms and waves to Sabo and their rafts start to drift in opposite directions. His time to say goodbye is running out. "We'll meet again, at the top!"

Sabo grins, and it feels like the sun is rising again after years of darkness. "Damn right! Watch me, Ace!"

"See ya', brother!"

Ace turns, sits, and starts to row. His compass tells him he's northward bound, and soon the island starts to fade behind him. Sabo yells something else, but Ace doesn't catch it and when he turns around, his brother is long gone.

* * *

 _Me and Sabo decided to leave. He went south and I went north, and it hurt to leave but we knew that we would meet again. We_ _had_ _to. I didn't know it at the time, but the next time we met, the Outlook Incident would be screaming into action and… well, let's just say that it wouldn't be the most convenient of circumstances._

 _Looking back, the whole thing was ridiculous. I was a fourteen year old kid, Gifted but with no control over it, leaving behind his home and his brother just because I couldn't stand the idea of going on our grand journey without our youngest. How the hell I survived out there, I don't know. It took me a whole year just to find the Revolutionary Army, even with Pidge's help, so it's face to say that I was no top-notch navigator._

* * *

If Ace didn't know any better, he'd think that he hadn't even left Edgetown. This village – Syrup Village, if he remembers correctly – had that same silent, condemned feel as his home city. Everywhere does now. As he walks down the village's main road, he can feel the fearful stares from around drawn curtains and out of cracked-open doors.

This place has been under Blackbeard's control for five long years, just like Edgetown, and the faces of the few people he does see are gaunt and afraid, carved out of thin, sharp angles. It feels almost surreal. Ace pulls his scarf tighter around him, straightening his shirt uneasily.

"Cousin?" The voice is small, young but curious. Ace glances to his right. A young, tan-skinned boy with curly black hair and a long nose stares back up at him from the mouth of an alley, grime smeared on his skin. He's shaking but looks like he's trying to hide it, and looks to be around Luffy's age, maybe a little older. Ace kneels down in front of him slowly, trying to make himself seem as non-threatening as possible.

"Hey, you alright Otouto?" he asks soothingly. The familiar term makes him wince, but it looks like it comforts the kid. He, like Ace, has grown up surrounded by the familiarity that the Eastern people use to refer to each other by.

The boy nods slightly tearfully. "You're from another island, right?" Ace nods. The boy sniffs. "Well, have you seen my mum? She's got green hair and a long nose, a-and the mean guy said she was on a boat."

Ace freezes.

After a few seconds, the kid toddles off, wiping his eyes and obviously deciding that Ace is a lost cause. Ace's hate for the man who took over the East Seas multiplies again by ten. This kid, one of thousands, is without a parent because Blackbeard probably wanted to sell her, like he has with hundreds of others. The small boy is completely alone in the world, just like Ace.

"Hey, wait!"

The younger boy turns back, hope in his eyes. "Yeah?!" He races back up the street, stumbling over a mutilated tin in the gutter.

"I'll get your mother back for you, okay?" Ace is being completely serious. "I'm gonna tell the mean guy that he can stuff himself and get her back for you. So just wait a little longer."

The kid hugs him tearfully, before turning and racing off, probably to tell one of the villagers about the strange traveller who promised to save his parent, leaving Ace alone with too many promises to count on both hands.

"Goodbye older brother, hello trailblazer," he murmurs.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please check out strays-fic dot tumblr dot com!**

 **(and thanks to everybody for reviewing!)**

 **Also, the next chapter might take a few days longer than my average of four or five. I have a graphics final due on tuesday but after that, I have an abundance of free time, so expect a lot more content!**


	6. 1-6 - In the Rough

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **So now we're finally onto one of my favourite planned-out arcs in this story! The first one is finished in only 25k words, so now I can launch us into the story with this long-ish road-trip-ish sequence :D Also, if you checked out the art on my tumblr (see above), then you might have seen the covers for the first six chapters that I uploaded? Well, chapter 5 cover has a lotttt of foreshadowing as to what Sabo's journey is like…. I'll say no more**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 – In the Rough**

* * *

 _I was choking in the crowd_  
 _Living my brain up in the cloud_  
 _Falling like ashes to the ground_  
 _Hoping my feelings, they would drown_

 _-_ **Imagine Dragons,** _ **Believer**_

 _"_ Thief! Catch the thief!"

The window shatters under Ace as he rams himself at it, gravity taking hold of his body as he plummets through the air. He twists and flails madly for a second, wind buffeting his hair and clothes around him in one moment suspended in time, before he hits the street in a crouch. Bending his knees on impact, Ace rolls and lurches almost gracefully to his feet, taking off running and shoving through the small crowd unceremoniously.

Most of his dine-and-dashes don't end quite this eventfully, but Ace can't count on much to be very predictable nowadays. It's been three or four weeks since he and Sabo separated, only a few days less than that since he saw the boy in Syrup Village, and it's proving to be far more difficult than he'd anticipated to navigate his way through the East Seas. Suffering lines the streets, and at every corner, another body lies collapsed in a gutter. Some could even say that this is hell.

Ace prefers to call it home, or at least somewhere close to it. He's three islands away from Edgetown, trekking through a city called Loguetown, and he can already tell that the people here are of a different breed to the people of Edgetown. They smile openly in the streets, link their skinny arms and dance in the sunlight, and two or three people even smiled at Ace from their stalls and doorways when he first arrived here. Their impending doom, their lack of freedom, seems to barely faze these joyful people.

Ace will be sad to leave, but he doesn't have much of a choice in the matter. He has promises to keep (and now he has the staff of a whole restaurant on his ass, too).

He doesn't particularly want to admit it but, whether Ace likes it or not, he doesn't have much clue on the matter of actually getting out of the east, across the no-man's land between the two areas of vast ocean and to the Revolutionary headquarters in the north. He has a compass, sure, but if that breaks then he's pretty much screwed. He just hopes that the next few islands won't be to rough.

Ace ducks into an alley and hears ten or fifteen pairs of feet thunder past. Grinning, he pulls himself up a drainpipe and onto the roof, letting his legs dangle over the edge as he stares out over the city. There's a stolen toothpick between his teeth and the sun on his face. Altogether, he's willing to admit that he's been pretty damn lucky so far. He just hopes that Sabo's journey is going the same way.

It sounds soppy but Ace hasn't had a proper chance to mourn his youngest brother yet, and he just hopes that he can stave off that minefield until, at the very least, he's reached his destination. The chances that Luffy survived, he realises pretty quickly, are slim to none. If the navy don't care about the lives of every innocent person in the west and the eastern seas, why would they spare some kid when they took him mistakenly?

Despite this, though, Ace won't stop looking for him. Not until the day he dies. Luffy is his little brother, and nothing will change that; and Ace maintains what he said all those years ago about him being harder to kill than a cockroach. If anybody in the world could survive that, anybody at all, it would be Luffy.

Ace tries to send both of his brothers all of the luck he has, all of the good thoughts and every smile, because his nights are haunted with images of Luffy, beaten bloody by navy soldiers, tiny body going limp. He sees Sabo, captured by slave traders, tortured and sold. He sees them taken away from him, and none of his nightmares include _him_ getting hurt. Losing his brothers is the worst kind of hurt that he can imagine.

Staring out to the sea on the horizon, Ace sighs. "What the hell happened to us?" he asks softly. Nobody answers.

* * *

 _Ace?_

Said teen groans, rolling over and burrowing his face into his scarf. "Go away, 'Bo," he slurs, before attempting to slip back into oblivion.

 _Ace, damnitt, listen to me!_

Ace whines. What right does Sabo have to wake up this early-

A flood of memories hit him in rapid succession. Luffy taken, leaving Edgetown, days and nights under the open sky, aching feet and limbs, loneliness. Sabo isn't here. Sabo c _an't be here_. Ace's eyes shoot open but when he sits up, looking around frantically, he doesn't see anybody. Did he just imagine it?

Deciding to go with that explanation, Ace flops back. He managed to pickpocket and scavenge enough money to pay for a night at the inn, and the bed feels like heaven. The sun still hasn't risen. Maybe he can-

 _Ace, you're not imagining this!_ Sabo's voice sounds frustrated beyond belief. _Please, just listen to me!_

"Sabo?" Ace looks around again. "Sabo, where are you?!"

 _If you're in public and you're running around yelling my name, you're going to look like a bit of an idiot,_ Sabo's voice says dryly. _I'm in your head_.

"What the he-" Ace cuts himself off with a growl, sitting back down resolutely and crossing his arms. "You'd better tell me what the hell's going on. Now."

A sigh that sounds distinctly infuriated rings in his head. This is the most disconcerting thing Ace has ever felt. _About a week ago, you started having nightmares. So did I. As in, I started having_ _ **your**_ _nightmares, Ace. Ever since then, I've been hearing little thoughts here and there, and I've been trying to send you some kind of message. Took you long enough to notice_ _ **.**_

"Well I'm sorry that I'm not exactly an expert at telepathy!" Ace says indignantly to the empty room. "How the hell did you know they were my nightmares and not yours?"

 _I, unlike you, have a brain_ , Sabo says frostily. Ace wonders just what happened to him in the last few weeks to put him in such a sour mood. _I'm not likely to have nightmares about just myself and Luffy getting hurt and ignore my other brother, similarly to what you did to yourself_. More frustration, edged with a profound sadness that has Ace reeling slightly. _Ace, why don't you care whether you get hurt?_

Ace can't think of a good answer, and Sabo sighs again. In his mind's eye, Ace can see his eyes softening. _As for what's put me in a 'sour mood', it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing so far. I found out who took Luffy._

"It was the navy, we already knew this." Ace grasps onto the topic, glad to find something to talk about that isn't unexplored territory.

 _Yes, but it was a subdivision of the Marines known as CP9. They specialise in assassination, trained from a very young age, and they're some of the only people in the world who the government permit to live who're Gifted. Every one of them has something called a Zoan Gift._

"Zoan Gift?" Ace screws up his face. "The hell is that?

Sabo is silent for a second. _There are three different types of Gift. From what I can divulge, ours is something called a Logia. It means that we can control – sort of – an element. Zoan users can create or tame certain types of animal, like little minions I guess._

"I'm not even going to pretend I understand, but what about that's so deadly?"

 _Well, the leader of CP9 is a man called Lucci. He's a very dangerous man. He has a Zoan ability that allows him to tame leopards, or even create them out of nothing and control them at his will. He's never been defeated._

An image of Luffy falling at the deadly claws of a big cat, skin ripped grotesquely as he cries out in pain, enters Ace's mind against his will.

 _Stop thinking that_ , Sabo says sharply.

"Thinking what?" Ace defends, trying to sound innocent.

 _We share the same mindspace, idiot. If you want to imagine that shit, then at least do it when I'm asleep_.

Ace's face flushes against his will. "Sorry," he mutters.

 _It's okay_. A moment of silence _. For somebody who just found out that they can telepathically communicate with their brother, you're pretty calm_ , says Sabo.

Ace shrugs, despite the fact that nobody can see it. "Stranger things have happened. Hey, how did you know all that stuff about Gifts?"

 _About two weeks ago, I stumbled across a library-_

"Wait, while I've been fighting for my life, you've been dicking around in a _library_?!" asks Ace incredulously.

 _Knowledge is power!_ Sabo defends. _And you know you don't have to talk aloud, right? Just try thinking something_.

Feeling utterly ridiculous, Ace thinks, _Happy?_

 _Very,_ Sabo replies smugly _._ Soon, his voice grows gently concerned. _How are you, Ace?_

 _I_ \- This thinking thing is disconcerting. _I'm alright. Apparently you're in my head now, so you should know. What about you? How's the south-east treatin' you?_ He feels like his words came out a little jumbled, but Ace reckons that his brother got the message.

 _It's not bad_. A quick snatch of a dozen images that Ace doesn't have time to register. _God, this is weird_.

 _Weird, but good._ Ace smiles slightly _. It gets lonely out here._

 _I've tried to talk to Luffy too, but it doesn't seem like it works with him_. Sabo doesn't actively voice the other alternative, that Luffy can't hear them because he's dead, but it rings loud and clear. _I have a couple of theories about how all of this works, and most of them are to do with our Mark._

Ace snorts. _We've already got 'first people in the world to share a Gift', why not just add, 'first people in the world to share mindspace'?_

Feeling Sabo's amusement through the bond, Ace smiles slightly before another thought takes over. _Is there any way to block each other out? No offence, but I would like some private time sometimes… In my own mind. That didn't make sense._

 _I know it didn't._ Sabo is silent for a few seconds, seeming thoughtful, before his presence disappears completely for a moment. Ace waits patiently until he reappears. _Did that work?_

 _Well, you did disappear for a little bit,_ reports Ace, _How did you do it?_

 _I don't know how to explain it._ Sabo thinks for a minute. _Just try to… go back into your own mind, I guess. Right now we're sort of in the shared bit, so just will yourself to go back to the bit that's just yours._

Feeling like an idiot yet again, Ace takes a deep breath and tries to pull himself back into his own head and out of the no-man's land. It takes a few minutes but soon he manages it; it feels sort of like climbing out of a cold pool after hours of swimming. He stays like that for a moment or two, revelling in the strange silence that fills him, before slipping back into the space where he can talk to his brother. A thousand emotions, none his own, swim through him. It's strangely comforting.

 _I think I got it_ , Ace thinks, and a wave of confirmation washes over him.

 _Hey, I guess we really are going out into the world together. Just sort of… not._ Sabo's voice is lined with relief, a relief that Ace feels tenfold.

 _We are_ , grins Ace in reply, feeling a wave of warmth soar through him.

* * *

The journey suddenly becomes a whole lot less daunting. So what if Ace loses his compass? He'll find another one. He's not alone anymore and the things that used to scare him half to death don't faze him in the slightest now. Sabo's with him. They'll make it. It's just like Luffy told him once, under the light of the eastern stars – being alone is worse than being hurt. Though he never lets any of this pure, sheer relief slip into their shared mindspace, Ace knows that Sabo feels it and returns it wholeheartedly.

Long days on the streets of Loguetown are filled with casual talk (or mind-speak, or whatever it's called), and Ace falls asleep every night to the feeling of Sabo beside him, even if he knows that he isn't really there. They don't talk about everything – in fact, they often veer off the topic of where they are and what they're doing in favour of talking about what they're going to do once they find Luffy, or what the Revolutionary Army is like, or how cool it'll be once their powers are under control.

While Sabo slowly grows used to having Ace's nightmares, Ace never gets projected any of his brother's nightly terrors. At first he thinks it's just because Sabo is stronger than him, doesn't suffer through violent images and flashbacks when the sun sets, but the blonde tells him otherwise – he's still experiencing them, but Ace doesn't see them. There are too many mysteries that come with this strange new development to keep track of.

A downside to the whole situation? If Ace's worry about Luffy was sky-high before, then with Sabo here, it's multiplied by tenfold. He's not only worrying about the Navy hurting his little brother; he's worrying about them dumping him in the middle of nowhere, about them discarding him once they realise that he's not Ace and leaving the ten-year old to die. All of Sabo's anxiety fills him too, and vice-versa. Who knew that having a little brother would cause so much stress?

The one comfort when it comes to Luffy is that they're _doing something_. Every day, Ace fights another handful of street punks and Sabo learns how to navigate the rough southeast. They're growing more experienced with each passing day, growing into the strong people that they'll have to be to rescue Luffy and protect each other in the future. This is ten times better than anything they could be doing if they had waited around at home for Lu to return on his own.

Through cold nights and cold days, Sabo his brother – possibly even his twin, if his hypothesis is correct – travel further and further from each other, raw determination in every step.

* * *

 _Ace is running, hard, through the streets of his childhood home. It's the warm season again, and the sun and dust coat his skin, sticking to the sweat that soaks it. He needs to get to get to the town square; why, he doesn't know, but it feels like the only thing he can do if he wants to live. He skids through the elongated alleyways, strange distortions of what they really are, and registers vaguely that this is a dream. He runs on._

 _Skidding into the square, Ace's eyes land on a scene that he'll never forget. His earliest memory. The pale, stick-thin man in the golden chair warbles out a funeral march, voice huge and distorted, eyes blown so wide that blood from his torn veins slips down his cheeks. The slave who collapsed is crushed before Ace can even draw breath, but this time his hair is scarlet and he stares up at Ace pleadingly._

 _"_ _Ace, please…!" Shanks gasps with Luffy's voice. Then his eyes roll back into his head, just like Makino's once did. Ace cries out, lunging forward to pull the cart off his father-figure before it dissolves into snakes, writing and twisting as they push themselves into his eyes-_

Slamming his eyes open, Ace shoots up and out of bed, hitting his forehead on the low board above him. The man in the bunk above him growls, "Shut it, Portgas!" and he mutters a feverish apology, trying to calm his breathing. It's not real. Not real. Not real.

 _Are you awake now?_ Sabo's voice asks. Ace calms marginally, lying back and covering his face with his hands. Around him, the snores of the other men in the cheap hostel fill the air.

 _Yeah_ , he projects simply, _Sorry you had to see that_.

 _Seen worse,_ replies Sabo calmly. Even so, Ace can tell that he's shaken. _Ace, what_ _ **was**_ _that?_

The black-haired teen doesn't know where to start. _You know I knew Shanks from when I was younger?_ A flash of confirmation. _Well, while he was taking care of me, one of the Hyumangoddo visited Edgetown for a routine inspection. That thin man in the seat was him._

Sabo's silent for a second, seemingly in awe. _I'd heard all about them, but I never imagined that they'd be so…_

He trails off, but Ace knows exactly what he means. _Yeah, I know. His voice really did sound like that, too_. The scarf-wearer can feel his brother shiver.

 _Remind me never to cross paths with one of them, then_ , he mutters. _Anyway, I'm gonna try and sleep for a few more hours before the sun rises. What about you?_

Ace stretches like a cat, letting a tiny smirk curl his lips. _I'm staying at some hostel right now and I haven't got money to pay in the morning, so I'll take my leave._ He can feel Sabo rolling his eyes.

 _You're gonna get us all killed, you know._

 _Nah, you'd pull me out of it just so you could kick my ass._

 _You know me too well._

 _I know everything._ Ace realises that his smile is close to splitting his face. _See you, Sab._

Merciful silence. Ace doesn't make a sound as he slips out of his shadowy bunk, grabbing the single zebra-striped pack he owns and swinging it over his shoulder. He pulls his scarf tighter around his neck and creeps on silent feet out of the open doorway and away from the snores of the other men and teens. He reaches the single grimy bathroom along the hallway, locking the door behind him and hefting himself out of the window.

There's a small drop – only five or six feet – before he hits the ground lightly. If the last couple of weeks have taught him anything, it's that stealth is something that'll probably save his life someday. And to eat as soon as there's food in front of him, because the thieves out here are even faster than Luffy. Ace was never packing it on in the first place, but he has lost a significant amount of weight since he first left his island.

As Ace walks, keeping his eyes on the floor, the city wakes up around him. The fish market opens early, letting off smells that make him want to gag, but the sailors seem happy enough. He snatches a string of roasted sausages off a nearby cart, and the vendor looks more asleep than she is awake, barely noticing that he's there. This city has so many different energies.

Just down from the tired vendor, a busker with sleek auburn hair winks at him and after he's passed, Ace realises that two of the sausages are gone. Another wink from the guitar-strumming busker, and then his breakfast is being wolfed down and the song starts again. Deciding not to start a fight this early in the morning, Ace grins back and tips his head as if to say, _touché._

Moving on, Ace lets his legs move on autopilot and simply takes in everything that's surrounding him. A green-haired blur is thrown out of a nearby pub that only just looks like it's opening ('scram, kid, we don't serve minors!'), and Ace stifles a laugh as he walks past the indignant kid. He only looks a year or so younger than Ace himself, and he's swearing so colourfully that a nearby woman smacks him hard over the back of the head.

The sun rises gradually, bathing the world in a burnt-orange sheen, and a distant wordless song rises from the fields as the day grinds into motion. Ace pickpockets a few of the less-scrappy looking people deftly, still revelling in the warmth of this place. Children run without fear in the streets, people smile at each other and laugh and sing. If he'd have grown up here, maybe Ace wouldn't have had the childhood that he did. Maybe things would've been better.

Shaking himself out of thoughts of what might have been, Ace tosses a few coins to a blue-haired girl behind a stall and grabs three tangerines, peeling them and wolfing them down lazily. He gave her the right change, mostly because something tells him that it would be unwise to cross her. She only looks about his age, but she has a sharpness in her eyes that he's only ever seen in Sabo's before. The orange-haired little girl at her side stares up at him with unabashed curiosity, and Ace smiles at her.

All too soon, Ace reaches the docks and unties his sorry-looking raft. Looking it up and down, the teen frowns. The chances are that it won't last until the next island. Sitting down on the pier and letting his legs dangle into the refreshing water, Ace considers his situation. There's a scrap metal yard only a mile or two down the coast of the small island. If he can find enough parts, maybe he can throw something together.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he can feel Sabo return slowly to consciousness. He slept quite late and woke with no night terrors – Ace is relieved for that, at least. _Hey there, sleeping beauty,_ he teases, swinging his feet in the waves.

 _Shut it_. Sabo's voice is close to a whine. _I take it you didn't die, then?_

 _I hope not_ , jibes Ace, before growing serious. _Hey, Sabo, what do you know about building boats?_

 _…_ _Why?_

 _Well, my raft is getting sort of battered and there's a scrapyard close to here so-_

 _Scrapyard?_ Sabo interrupts him, suddenly sounding completely serious. _Ace, where are you?_

 _What? Sabo, I-_

 _Where. Are. You._

The intensity – and is that fear? – that Sabo's projecting startles Ace. _I reached Loguetown a few days ago_.

Horror. Unadulterated horror slams into Ace like a battering ram. Sabo's so afraid that it's almost can't breathe, and all of that fear is making Ace's pulse race and his head bang. _Ace, run._

 _What?!_

 _Run. Run right now, or you're going to die._

Ace sits up, before the words register and he's scrambling to his feet so fast that his head spins. Sabo can explain this later. Right now, Ace's mind is flashing back to the faces of the people of Lougetown. They can't just all die. He won't let them. _How much time do I have?_

Sabo thinks frantically, a blur of images imprinting themselves on Ace's eyelids before slipping into darkness. _If I heard right, it's happening at ten. So three hours at most, two if we're being realistic._

Ace starts running as soon his brother says 'three hours'. He pushes over a man coming up the pier in his mad rush, hearing a splash a second later. If the situation wasn't so serious, he would have laughed. The city passes by in a blur and Ace's eyes land on the blue-haired girl and her small, redheaded companion. He skids to a stop at their stall, garnering strange looks as he pants and panics.

"Uh, can we help you?" the older of the girls asks.

"Do you want to stay alive?"

The girl's eyes blow wide. "What…?"

"Listen," Ace says hurriedly, "Something is coming to this island. Something bad. We don't have time-" His voice cracks. "We don't have time to get everybody out, but I can save you and your sister. I have a boat."

The blue-haired kid stares him in the eye for a long second before, miraculously, she nods.

"Okay. Nami," she addresses her younger sister, who looks terrified. "I need you to go with the nice boy, okay? He's going to keep you safe."

"What about you?" Ace asks, as Nami stands by his side.

"I have a friend in the southern district. I can't leave her behind either. Our mother died last year, and she's all we have left."

Ace nods. He understands perfectly. Steering Nami away from her sister, he tries to run with her for a few seconds but her legs are shaking too violently to carry her weight properly. Eventually, he swings her up onto his shoulders and picks up his pace, trying not to wince as she tugs at his hair to stay upright.

Leaning on a wall a few streets along is the teen with green hair, scowling heavily, and Ace doesn't have to think before he wrenches him along too.

The other boy growls. "Hey, what the hell?!"

"I'm saving your life," says Ace shortly, before resuming his tugging. "Come on!"

"Who says I want to be saved?!"

Trying to ignore how much that question disconcerts him, Ace shoots the resisting kid what he hopes is a pleading look. "Please, we have to hurry!"

Rolling his dark eyes, the boy lets Ace take his arm and keeps pace with him as they sprint through the streets. "Why me?"

"Because I can't save everybody, but I didn't want to leave everybody either."

Ace picks up one more kid – a small girl with a shock of red-brown hair who doesn't talk – before Sabo says, _You need to get out of there now!_

 _Aye aye,_ thinks Ace in reply, before swinging the brown-haired girl into his arms and running harder. Soon, the strange foursome reach the docks and Ace unloads Nami, green-hair and the other girl into his raft. It's a tight squeeze and looks close to sinking, but Ace gives the set of oars to Nami and green-hair and says, "Sail as fast as you can and don't look back, no matter what you do!"

"B-But, Nojiko!" Tears fill Nami's deep brown eyes, so similar to Luffy's that it aches. "Nojiko, please!"

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay!" Feeling helpless, Ace ruffles the pre-teen's hair and gives the raft a firm shove, pushing it out onto the ocean. Nami is tearful but nods determinedly, wiping the water from her eyes. Green-hair looks cold. The other girl says nothing, wide-eyed. She looks at Ace like he's the sun.

And then they start to drift away. Ace turns away, ignoring Sabo's persistent questions in his mind. At least a few children will live to tell the tale when this thing – whatever it is – hits. He has one last job to do.

The raven-haired Gift user runs back into the town one last time, clambering up a drainpipe to the roof of the tallest building he can see. Stretching his hands out in front of him, Ace takes a deep breath. Trying to control this is like trying to spawn new limbs through pure power of will. _Sabo, lend me your strength for a little while!_

His brother does so without question, and Ace's fire roars forward.

Across the sky, obscuring the sun, the word 'LEAVE' blossoms in blindingly white flames. Staggering, Ace forces his fire to spell out, 'SWIM AWAY' before he hits one knee, going down with a grunt. Fatigue overpowers him. He can hear the people in the streets bellow screaming and even though he knows that there's no chance that they can all get out, he's done his job. His eyes start to slip shut, his lips curling up at the sides.

 _Ace!_ Sabo sounds hysterical. _No, no, no, Ace!_

Ace lets himself fall, smiling, off the side of the roof-

And catches himself on the ledge of the second floor window, only feet from the ground after a mad, air-stealing fall. His palms shred on impact, but he manages to cling on, dropping to the ground and rolling. His energy is somehow miraculously back. Sabo is gone from his mind, out cold.

Running to the port alongside thousands of villagers and jumping into the sea, salt fills Ace's mouth and nose, but swimming comes strangely easily.

 _Thanks for lending me your strength, Sabo_ , Ace thinks, before he breaks the surface.

And Loguetown explodes behind him.

* * *

 **If you think that Zoro's OOC, you're absolutely goddamn right and there's a very good reason why. And by 'good' I mean heartbreaking and awful.**


	7. 1-7 - Blind Believer

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **yea that's it**

 **please review! You don't know how much they mean to me. And this chapter isn't betaed right now but I will look through in the morning, promise**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Blind Believer**

* * *

Though it lasts barely more than five minutes, the mad scramble to get away from Loguetown is a moment that Ace will never forget. The heat bursting from the very pores of the island burns his back, and he can feel the sea heating up rapidly around him, blistering his skin. A shockwave explodes outwards from the smoking, burning shell that was once a city, forcing huge waves over the people in the ocean. Ace manages to swim forward, limbs stabbed with lances of pure pain, and grab onto what's left of the stone pier.

Pulling himself onto it, the teen watches in horror as the people in the ocean all around him start to scream. The water is heating up. A charred-looking, blackened hand reaches out of the steaming waves and claws at Ace's foot and he kicks out, sending the screaming little girl who it belongs to crashing back into the ocean. The strong, horrifying smell of burning flesh fills the air. Sabo is yelling again, awake now, but Ace can't make out his words.

Somebody is saying 'no, no, no' over and over in an incoherent stream. The island is an inferno, burning Ace's eyes, and when a splash of boiling water hits his face it feels as though it may as well be magma. He screams out, but manages to keep his grip on the crumbling stone pier, feeling as though his left eye is being stabbed repeatedly as his vision blurs and darkens. As the island starts to crumble in front of him, fire licking at the skeletons of the city that remain, Ace remembers the blue-haired girl. His mind is playing tricks on him. He can hear her scream.

 _Ace, you need to listen to me!_

He doesn't.

 _Please!_

Ace doesn't listen, and lets Sabo's pleas fade into a buzz in the back of his brain. _This is hell_. He feels his burnt, stinging hands slipping on the rock, but then he remembers Luffy, remembers Sabo and Makino and the little boy at Syrup Village. He can't die here. **_He can't die here_**.

* * *

 _I didn't know it at the time, but what I would barely escape from a few weeks after setting off would soon become known throughout the seas as the Lougetown Massacre. It was a turning point, both in government tactics and attitude, and in revolutionary actions. Of course, I didn't know any of this at the time. All I knew was that it really hurt, and that I barely survived._

* * *

Ace wakes up, and the first thing he feels is exhaustion. It's not his own. He knows immediately that Sabo is completely shattered, probably barely awake. Still, as soon as his blonde brother realises that he's awake, a little of his energy returns.

 _Ace…!_ It hurts Ace to hear how tired he sounds. _How are you feeling?_

 _Better than you sound,_ he replies, trying to sit up and opening his eyes. There's sand beneath him, sticking to his scalp and coating his body, and he can smell salt. Above, the sun is burning mercilessly. The left side of his face feels like it's on fire, and there's something wrong with his chin.

 _You nearly got blown up and you're worrying about me being tired?!_

Ace remembers. Fire, an explosion, heat on his back and his face scorched by boiling water. People dying all around him. It hits him in a rush, and strangely, Ace just lets it happen. He doesn't react. He feels like he doesn't have much sadness, much horror, left to give.

 _Touché._

Wave after wave of concern shoot through him. _All I heard was 'no, no, no' and then you just… left. Where are you?_ Ace hesitates. _Ace, please._

The sore, grimy teen looks around. _Washed up on a beach. I don't remember much_ , he lies.

 _Mmhm._ Sabo doesn't believe him for a second, but doesn't push. _Don't worry me like that again._

 _I won't if you just explain what the hell happened back there_ , replies Ace bossily.

 _Oh, yeah._ Ace can almost see Sabo steeling himself. _The day before we finally managed to start talking like this, I heard a rumour from a man in a pub that the Navy are going to resort to new tactics when it comes to the eastern area. They think that if they can't control it, nobody can._

 _What do you mean?_ Ace dreads the answer.

 _I mean that one by one, they're planning to destroy the major cities of the Eastern Seas with fire bombs. They want to destroy everything. They'd rather it be like the whole place never existed, as opposed to letting the Blackbeard Pirates control it._ Anger brews in Sabo's voice _. It's completely ridiculous, not to mention inhumane-_

 _You're too tired to be getting this indignant._ Ace tries to use a teasing tone, but his voice comes out flat and robotic. He's still trying to process just what all of this means. Thousands of people, dozens of cities and villages. Gone. Gone, because the government are acting like children who don't want to give up their favourite toys.

 _You're one to talk,_ says Sabo quietly, _And w_ _e're not toys._

 _But they're acting that way!_ Ace doesn't know why he's suddenly so angry. Maybe it's the aching in his body, or the images of bodies roasting in the sea imprinted on his eyelids. _Sabo, you didn't see what I saw. They're treating us like we're nothing._

 _Why the hell are you getting so angry?!_

Ace doesn't have a good answer, so he just says, _Because you're a child! You didn't think to tell me that an island in the direction I was headed might get freakin' bombed! You don't even seem to care that thousands of people are dead!_

 _Well maybe I thought you'd be past Loguetown by now, maybe you're taking too long!_ Sabo explodes. _I've been busting my ass over here, not sleeping and not eating, trying to get to the navy as soon as possible to I can save Luffy. You've been in some shitty little city for a whole week, and for what? Because you like the feel of the place?! I don't care what you saw and I don't care what you think,_ he says coldly, _You can't just give up hope here. You're the one acting like a child just because you couldn't save every last person!_

Ace falls silent. He feels slightly numb, skin tingling as though he's just been slapped.

 _A-Ace, I-_

 _No, you're right_. Ace holds back all of the emotions blazing inside him. _I am being a child. I'll find the revolutionary army, and I'll do it on my own. I'll stop wasting time keeping myself alive. That's what you're doing, isn't it?_

Ace throws himself back into his own brain, slamming the gate between them and closing off the link. The complete silence and stillness after night after night of thousands of emotions that aren't his own is almost physically painful, but he makes himself lock the door, barring himself back in his own solitude.

He can do this. He can do this.

* * *

Three weeks after the Loguetown massacre, news has spread throughout the islands, and Ace can barely move for stories about what really happened. Most of them – _all_ of them – are complete bullshit. Despite the unpleasant memories that the tall tales bring, however, he bears it with no outward signs of emotion. There's a harsh burn on Ace's chin that he knows will probably scar. His left eye is blurry almost constantly, and his skin is tender and completely raw. It's safe to say that what happened at Loguetown didn't leave him physically unscathed either.

Sabo is completely silent. Occasionally, Ace feels a strong surge of emotion that manages to force its way through – panic, worry, sometimes happiness. Consciously, Sabo never tries to make contact with Ace, but the hum of his constant loneliness is palpable. Ace does his best to ignore it (later on, of course, he'll tell himself that he's a stubborn moron, but for now he thinks for sure that he's in the right here).

Ace pushes the Striker away from island after island, never staying long anywhere. Keeping her fuelled is proving to be expensive, but she's fast and efficient, and Ace knows that he's slowly slipping into the no-man's land between the east and the north. Soon, he'll be away from Blackbeard's hold for good. He's making good time at least, and he should be heading in the right direction… he hopes. Honestly, Ace doesn't know how on earth he's actually going to find the revolutionary headquarters once he gets to the north.

He'll manage it. Even so, it's at times like this when Ace wishes that he had Sabo to talk to, or to ask for advice from at least. The teen has heard plenty of rumours about how to contact the revolutionaries, and it would be useful to check with his brother on whether any of them hold any truth whatsoever. Despite this, he knows that that isn't possible. He said that he would do this on his own. Even though he's only fourteen, Ace needs to stop being a child.

In a world where the government don't care about roasting hundreds of people alive, blowing up their island, nobody will care that he's young.

Shaking himself out of thoughts that grow progressively darker each day, Ace glowers at the man who tends to the stall. "That's blind robbery. Take it down to 1000 Beli and I might reconsider."

The man scowls right back. "Shift, kid, unless you're actually going to buy something. There are paying customers waiting."

Ace looks around the empty street mockingly. Unlike Loguetown is – was – this place is just like everywhere else. The people are cold and perpetually scowling. This particular vendor is trying to sell a few gallons of fuel, something Ace desperately needs. He would have no problems with knocking the frail man out and taking his wares usually, but this old man is so gaunt and thin, so hopeless, that he can't make himself do it.

"Well, I don't see any paying customers." Ace sighs, leaning forward. "Look, cousin, you're close to going bust. If we settle it at 1200, at least you'll have some kind of profit. How about that?" He keeps his voice perfectly pleasant.

The wizened old vendor stares at him shrewdly for a minute, before nodding, heaving the tank of fuel over the desk with veiny arms. As soon as Ace takes it, handing over 1200 Beli in coins, the man starts to pack up.

"Giving up for the day?" Ace raises an eyebrow.

The man looks at Ace for a long moment. "Yeah," he says eventually. "Sure, brat."

Deciding not to comment on the impromptu insult, Ace turns away and starts heading back to the Striker. The quicker he gets off this shifty island, the better. He only hits a minor issue when he uncaps the 'fuel' and finds only a vat of mouldy salt water.

"That old- crap!" Ace turns around and flies back up the pier, frustrated at himself immensely for being so stupid. Running back to the place where the old man had set up his stall, Ace knows before he even gets there that he's long-since disappeared. That's almost three quarters of his meagre savings, gone.

"Fuck!" If the old man didn't have fuel, then the chances are that most other places will just try to scam him in the same way. Ace was a complete idiot, he realises as he trudges forlornly back to Striker. A naïve idiot, truly, to think that anybody living in this much depravity can be trusted.

What on earth can he do now? He's stuck with a boat that can't sail, a handful of money and no way to get to the next island. Nothing else can get Striker moving, and he's not exactly a shipwright who can engineer another way.

An image of burning flames pushes into his mind for a split second. Ace knows immediately who it is. _Sabo?_

There's a brief, muted feeling of confirmation. Sabo is oozing apology. Ace abruptly feels like he's kicked a puppy, and his reason for ignoring Sabo flies out of his head. Pushing the gate open slightly, Ace thinks, _Sabo?_

 _I didn't mean any of what I said!_ Sabo says in a rush.

 _Whoah! Sabo, calm-_

 _I was unreasonable and I shouldn't have dismissed what happened at Loguetown! I'm-_

 _Sabo!_ Ace just about manages to silence his frantically apologising sworn brother. _Sabo. It's okay. I'm sorry too. I was acting like a child and I should have moved on quicker._

Sabo calms somewhat, but still seems willing to defend his argument. _You're fourteen! You shouldn't have to leave so much behind, you shouldn't have to stop being a kid._

 _You're fourteen too,_ shoots back Ace.

 _Yes, but I'm used to this. And-_

Deciding to stop this before it escalates into yet another stupid argument, Ace says, _I missed you. You seemed really lonely._

That familiar warmth returns, and Ace could cry with relief as it surrounds him. _So did you,_ Sabo says, subdued. _Let's try not to argue anymore, okay?_

 _Deal._ Ace suddenly frowns. _Hey, you sent me that image of fire, right? Are you spying on my mind?_

Sabo, suddenly bashful, scrambles for an excuse and they dissolve into familiar bickering and laughter in equal measure. As night falls, Ace curls up in the hollow of Striker and discusses the problem with Sabo. His – significantly smarter – brother reckons that, if Ace can manage to control his fire, he can find a way to use that to power his new boat. Ace is dubious, to say the least.

"Even if that does somehow work, I'm hardly in control of my fire. It's sort of like… damn, it's hard to explain. I guess it's like hanging on the edge of a cliff. Sometimes I slip, but every time I try to jump, something pulls me back. Does that make sense?" Ace asks the open, empty ocean. Sometimes it's a little less strange to actually talk, rather than just thinking what he wants to say.

 _No_ , Sabo says absentmindedly. _I've been alright at creating little fires here and there, but I haven't been able to use fire while fighting yet. How about you try to create a little flame, just on the tip of your finger, and we'll take it from there?_

Ace nods, glancing around before raising his index finger and focussing on it, trying to channel everything he has into creating a tiny flame. It feels like trying to squeeze an ocean through a straw. He concentrates for a good few minutes, but not a hint of fire appears.

"Not working!" Ace growls.

 _Okay, new plan_. Sabo brainstorms. _How about you try again, but this time, I'll try to help from here, if that makes sense. I'll try to add my fire._

Ace shrugs. "Sure." Raising his index finger again, he repeats the process, focussing all of his energy on creating some kind of reaction. Anything.

The flame flickers to life, bright and bold.

Ace whoops. "Success!" Suddenly, it feels like the straw has expanded to the mouth of a river meeting the sea. He can feel the raw, liquid power bleeding out of his fingers, and lets the fire spread to engulf his whole hand.

 _It worked?!_ Sabo cheers. _See if you can make it larger!_

Together, Sabo pushing his flames forward too, the brothers expand and expand the ball of fire until it's the size of a football. "Keep going!" Ace yells, laughing as the orb of flame gets so large he has to hold it in both hands. Soon, it's almost the same size as him and though it's beautiful, the white-hot mirage of flame will soon become a serious risk when it comes to keeping Striker free of scorch marks.

"I'm gonna release it!"

Ace presses his hands together, forcing the roaring, screaming fire into a tiny ball, before releasing it into the air. Shooting up five feet, ten feet, the sunburst explodes into a supernova of red light just above his head. Letting Sabo in on the sight too, Ace can feel his awe – an awe that is surely mirrored in Ace himself. He can feel the smoke in his eyes as he grins at the sky. Dying embers land all around him, and the smoke sinks and drifts lazily across the surface of the water.

 _That was awesome!_ calls Sabo. _I'm definitely gonna try and find out how that works!_

"Of course you just want to know the science of it." Ace shouldn't have expected otherwise, he realises with a wide, fierce smile.

* * *

One of Ace and Sabo's favourite games soon becomes, 'what do you reckon Luffy's doing now?' It's a pretty delusional game, mostly made up of dreaming of hopeless, simple things that can never be, but it's comforting. Most of the time, Ace guesses something to do with food and Sabo guesses something to do with adventure. Those are the kid's two favourite things, after all.

Ace plunges into the unoccupied area head-first. Most of the islands here are uninhabited – thank Christ – but the ones that do have a handful of people or so are far less than friendly. Ace knows that his brother is close to tearing his hair out with worry for him, and tries not to let that make him smile too much.

Meanwhile, Sabo is trekking his way through battlefields. In the southeast, resistance against Blackbeard is far stronger. He practically glows with content as he describes people with hope in their eyes – hope that he's never seen – fighting for their freedom, brave and fierce as dragons. He even came across one very unusual man- an undercover member of the Revolutionary Army. They didn't get to talk for long, but apparently the man left quite an impression on him.

 _I can't wait to join the Revolutionary Army,_ Sabo tells him wistfully sometimes, mostly when he's very tired and close to sleep. _Just me, you and Lu._

* * *

The most ridiculous rumour Ace hears about the Revolutionary army turns out to be the one that helps him find them, strangely enough. Scoffing down a meagre breakfast in some shady diner and casually playing a very unsuccessful game of I-spy with Sabo, Ace hears a few words from the table behind him that make him freeze, fork half-way to his mouth.

"...hear about the Revs? Apparently they're trying to reclaim the west again."

"Won't work, I bet." A low, boisterous laugh. "Don' tell me you don' remember what happened last time they tried."

The first voice sounds nervous but hopeful. "Someday, I'd like to join the revolutionaries."

The second man snorts in a conceited manner. "Just go for it, kid. Not like you're needed around here anyway. You know the drill – burn a feather and wait to see if they think you're worthy."

"Shut up!" the first man hisses. In the reflection of the grimy window, Ace sees the ratty-looking man gesture at his back. " _He_ might be a marine!"

Ace gives a pointed, uncivilised snort, standing and dropping a few coins onto the table before strolling out into the light. On the inside, however, his mind is spinning with new information. While he takes to the rooftops, a place of comfort and privacy that he's grown accustomed to, he relays the conversation to Sabo.

If anything, the blonde teen's admiration of the Revolutionary army soars even higher. _They're trying to reclaim the west!_ he repeats over and over, awed.

 _I got that the first time you told me_ , teases Ace. _Anyway, what do you think they meant by 'burn a feather'?_

 _No idea._ Sabo ponders. _Maybe they meant it literally. If one of them has a bird Zoan power, then if you burn a feather, they could be able to sense it somehow. Hey, maybe they'll even send one of their men to meet you!_

Ace rolls his eyes. _It's a pretty stupid way to get in contact_ , he mutters, not really meaning it.

 _Well just try it and see what happens._

Reluctant, Ace nods, setting off in search of a bird feather. After a few minutes, he stumbles across an empty bird's nest in a drain pipe, filled with gull feathers. Plucking one out, Ace finds a sunny spot perch above the small marketplace and crosses his legs, balancing precariously over the street below.

"Here goes," he mutters to himself. Feeling Sabo pushing his fire to join his, Ace lets a few tongues of flame flicker along his hand and drops the black and white feather onto them. It chars and curls, letting off an unpleasant smell, before it disintegrates into ash a few minutes later. Nothing happens.

"Well, I guess that's a bust-"

Something tiny, glowing and blue appears in Ace's peripheral vision, and he jumps as the small blue thing lands on his shoulder. Trying to shake it off, he realises that whatever the thing is, it isn't planning on letting go. Craning his neck, all Ace can see is sapphire blue. The teen is about to resort to attacking the entity on his shoulder to get it off when the blue glow dims and a warm, small weight drops onto his skinny shoulder.

Scooping whatever the thing is off his shoulder, Ace cradles it in two hands and looks it – him? her? – up and down. Fluffy beyond belief and covered in downy, sea-blue feathers, the tiny bird has a smattering of sleek gold on its neck and is built like a humming bird, small enough to fit into one of Ace's hands. It looks up at him with beady, black eyes, cocking its head innocently in a way similar to Ace's little brother in all his wonderful wreck-your-life glory.

"Hey, little guy." Ace has no idea what to say. Can this warm, soft, tiny thing even understand him? "Mind telling me why you appeared on my shoulder?"

The bird lets out a tiny chirp, before opening its wings to show its bright blue breast. On its chest is inscribed a blue cross, lanced through with a crescent. The mark of the Revolutionary Army.

Ace stares for a solid minute before he starts laughing madly, ruffling Pidge's soft feathers as he cheers. The bird preens, nuzzling his hand softly. _Sabo, I've found it! I've found the way to the revolutionary army!_

 _What?_ The blonde sounds like he's had enough shocks to last a lifetime. _How?!_

 _Some shitty little bird is going to show me the way! Look, I'll tell you more later!_ Shutting his indignant brother out, Ace stares hard at the black-eyed chick in his hands. "Are you gonna help me? Are you gonna lead me to the Revolutionary Army?"

Apparently the tiny thing does understand him, because it flutters clumsily out of his hands and rubs itself affectionately against his neck, settling on his shoulder in a pile of fluff and feathers. It gives a merry chirp of confirmation.

"Do you have a name?" The blue bird cocks its head, before giving a sad little tweet that Ace can only assume is a negative answer. "Alright, well do you want one?"

A positive. The bird appears to be taking a shine to him.

"How about… Luffy?"

There's a sharp, slightly painful peck against his neck. No to that, then.

"Jeez, jeez, you don't have to peck at me, touchy bird. Titch?"

Another negative.

"How about…" What name suits it best? "How about Pidge?"

A pause, before the fluffy creature nuzzles Ace's neck once more, brushing at the scar on his chin before climbing into his scarf.

Letting Sabo back in to a cacophony of questions, Ace smiles and whispers to himself, "Pidge it is, then."

* * *

 _Things only really started to look up when I met Pidge. Even though he was only one of Marco's tiny little minion birds, he's been my best friend for years, and I wouldn't change the feathery little devil for the world. Pidge, if you're reading this – which really doesn't make sense, seeing as you're a phoenix – then just know that I hope you're okay. Marco, you too._

 _Why am I getting so soppy? Let's just get on with this stupid thing so I can burn it as soon as possible._

* * *

 **Right now I'm averaging at about a chapter per 2-4 days. Don't ask me how, cause I don't know. Please review! I haven't gotten many recently...**

 **Also, you might not have noticed this, but there was a mainly Ace-Luffy centric segment, an ASL centric segment, and now there's an Ace-Sabo centric part. I hope I'm managing to explore Ace's interactions well enough! And yes, there will be a Sabo-Luffy centric part in the future too :D**


	8. 1-8 - Under the Sun

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **love ya**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 – Under the Sun**

* * *

Though Pidge seemed like a blessing to the utmost degree when Ace first met him, he soon proves to be… Not the smoothest navigator in the world. He wakes Ace at random hours of the night with pecks and prods to the cheek, takes him on nonsensical paths that make no sense to his route and falls asleep abruptly sometimes, leaving Ace with no idea which direction he wants him to head. The only time the damn thing ever shuts up is at night, when it's so cold that they're both shivering violently and Pidge buries himself in the hollow of Ace's neck to keep out the chill.

As Ace travels northward, it certainly is getting colder. He counts his blessings when it comes to having not frozen to death yet, at least. Sabo whines and complains about the heat in the south, near the border to the military-owned territory, and Ace finds it slightly comforting to bicker with him over what's more painful – the heat or the bitter cold.

Despite Pidge's utterly infuriating sense of direction, Ace finds that whenever he goes to berate the small creature, he usually does something adorable (like roll over on the ground and look at him upside-down, or fall asleep on his shoulder, or puff up his feathers) and Ace can't make himself do it. He does draw the line at cooing at Pidge, though – he's not a girl, and the bird's ego would probably puff up so much that he wouldn't be able to fly.

Altogether, Pidge is like a simple, joyful little ball of affection. He brings a kind of light to Ace's days that he's not at all used to, and Ace can't say he minds it, honestly. With the blur of blue and gold flitting around in front of him, the young easterner finally knows where he's going.

One of the islands that he comes across in the unoccupied area – an island by the name of Kaira – turns out to be the one that delays him the most when it comes to reaching the Revolutionary Army. He only planned on staying for a night or so, but something about this island disconcerts him immensely, he realises as he strolls through the streets. It's an agricultural island, with enough fields to blanket it in green, but all of the people are close to malnourished. He almost constantly feels like he's being watched.

Shovelling a few thin slices of bread down in the corner of the single inn, Ace takes in the room from the shadows. Pidge is asleep on his head, nestled into his black hair. The men at the bar and the bartender himself have gaunt faces, eyes filled with hunger, and there is near silence but for the quiet hum of occasional conversation. Ace feels uneasy, eating like this when they look like they could barely afford more than a few crumbs.

Dropping a few coins onto the table, Ace stands and puts Pidge gently into the pocket of his black shorts, little head just poking out. Just before he reaches the door, however, the bartender calls out, "That ain't enough money, boy."

"Excuse me?" Ace knows for sure that he left the perfect amount. "I'm pretty sure it is, cousin."

The bartender steps around the bar, eyes filled with something wild that puts Ace on edge, and says, "I said, 'that ain't enough'," he repeats.

The looks on the faces of the other half a dozen men make Ace back up a few steps. _Why am I always the one in these situations?_ He cups a hand around Pidge protectively. "How much is enough?" he asks, cautious.

The man advances a few steps, laughing. The noise holds no humour. "It's however much I say is enough, _traveller_ , and I say we'll take everything. Isn't that right, boys?" The other men laugh.

Ace keeps his voice completely level. "I don't have anything else. Unless you're thinking of taking some stupid little bird." _You'd better not_ , he adds internally.

The hungry, feral look in the bartender's eyes intensifies. After a second, he growls, "Grab the kid!"

Ace makes a mad lunge for the door but a pair of rough hands catch him, restraining his arms at his sides as the men jump on him. He didn't even realise that they were this close to him. Careless, desperate fingers rifle through his pockets, and somebody rips Pidge out and throws him aside. The chick hits the edge of a table with a screech, before hitting the floor and not moving.

"Pidge!" yells Ace in alarm, struggling harder.

The man holding his arms back pushes him down against a nearby table, cutting off his panicked shouting. It's hard to breathe. The burly man is leaning on him so hard that Ace chokes on his own breath. More pairs of hands join the first. They take his belt and everything in his pockets, ripping away his shirt too, and he only manages to keep his scarf on by fighting like his life depends on it. As Ace wriggles and squirms, twisting and writhing like a possessed eel, the man holding him slams his head into the table hard.

An explosion of pain bursts through his skull. Everything loses its focus, and Ace can feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. Thank god he left his striped bag back on the Striker. Though it's barely survived this long, especially with what happened in Loguetown, it still holds a few changes of clothes and a little bit of money. Sabo, who had been sleeping previously, is disorientated and yelling, not knowing what's happening. Pidge is painfully still.

With one more blow to the head, Ace feels the world fall out from under him.

* * *

Waking is one of the most painful things Ace can remember feeling. Though he's never had one, this is what he can imagine a hangover feeling like; a hangover after being hit by a train, that is. Sabo is asleep, and his mind is blissfully silent. The surface beneath Ace's cheek is rough and speckled with what feel like pieces of glass, cutting into his skin.

Sitting up, Ace scrubs a hand over his eyes and brushes the dirt and debris off his cheek. It's dark, the grimy alleyway he's sprawled in only lit by a few patches of moonlight, and he can tell that it's probably been at least a few hours since the incident with the men in the pub. Shivering, the fourteen-year old wraps his arms around himself, noting that he's lost pretty much everything – even his shoes – apart from his shorts and scarf. And-

Shit.

"Pidge!" Ignoring the darkness that momentarily fills his vision with the movement, Ace lurches to his feet, using the brick wall to his left to steady himself. The world spins on its axis but he manages to stumble onto the open street, assessing where he is. _There_. The pub is only a few doors down. By the lack of light streaming from the windows, Ace can guess that the men who attacked him – he shivers at the memory, new bruises aching hot on his skin – have retired for the night. Pidge must still be in there.

On silent feet, Ace melts into the shadows and crosses the street, coming to the door without making a sound. Hopefully, if he's lucky, the owner of the rundown old place doesn't live on the premises. Ace isn't gullible enough to hope to get his precious few possessions back, though. All he can hope now is that his little friend, the only way he has of accessing the Revolutionary Army, is okay.

Pushing the mercifully unlocked door open and cringing when it creaks slightly, Ace slips into the darkened building and lets his eyes adjust to the gloom. After a few seconds, his pupils have contracted enough that he can vaguely make out the shapes of tables, and he's pretty sure he remembers which one Pidge was thrown against. Navigating clumsily around two or three mismatched tables and stools, Ace reaches the areas where he knows Pidge must lie. He hesitates before whispering, "Pidge? Buddy, you here?"

There's a moment of painstaking silence before, finally, a defeated-sounding cheep comes from somewhere around Ace's feet. Getting down on his hands and knees and feeling around blindly in the blankness, it takes Ace a moment but soon his hands wrap around a small, warm form, bony beneath a bout a metric ton of feathers. Holding back a sigh of relief, the teen tucks the bird under his chin with one hand and practically flees, turning tail and hightailing it out of the pub without looking back.

After slamming the door behind him, uncaring of the noise it makes, Ace carries on running until his tired legs bring him back to Striker. It's freezing cold but he's flushed and sweaty, and he pulls on his single other shirt as soon as he reaches Striker, tucking the equally shaking Pidge into his pocket. He'll have to find another belt, but apart from that, everything can be replaced.

As soon as his breathing has calmed and the adrenaline trickles out of his system, Ace lets himself fall into Striker's welcoming hollow, pulling Pidge gently out of his pocket. Feeling lightly along the bird's spine, Ace can't know for sure, but he's pretty sure nothing's broken. At least the chick is still breathing.

Not for the first time, Ace berates himself for being so naïve. People living in depravity don't care that he's fourteen, that he's scared deep down. Really scared. Nobody does. All they care about are the clothes on his back and the coins in his pocket. At times like this, Ace finds that the world has never seemed so cruel.

Tucking his tiny charge into his scarf and feeling him nuzzle his neck weakly in a show of tired affection, Ace rolls over and stares at the stars. For the first time in nearly four months (it certainly doesn't feel that long), he finally feels like he has time to really stop and think. With all of the crap that's happened since he left – Syrup Village, Loguetown and now this – he feels like he really should be mourning. Or experiencing some kind of trauma. But, honestly, it feels like it hasn't even hit Ace yet. This whole journey holds a sense of surrealism, as if when Ace wakes up, he'll be back in the trash heap outside Edgetown, living his life in a foot of dust.

Did all of those people really roast to death around him? It doesn't feel like it. It feels like some kind of strange, horrifying fantasy that his mind whipped up for no apparent reason. Ace knows perfectly well that he's fourteen, and that no fourteen year old should ever have to see the kinds of things that he does, but it seems to have finally hit him that what 'should' happen and what does happen in this world are very, very different.

Is Ace even the same person that he was before? He wanted to get stronger, not change into a person that he barely knows. His limbs, previously skinny but not malnourished, feel like brittle sticks; however, new muscles have started to lace across his torso, making up for the thin, breakable feeling in his extremities. When Ace catches sight of himself in the mirror, he always mistakes the scar on his chin for something having stuck itself to his skin by accident, trying to wipe it off. Getting used to these new changes in his body is taking a lot more time than he'd anticipated.

He barely recognises his reflection anymore.

Thinking uneasily about just what the hell happened to him for the last few months, Ace falls asleep. His dreams are strange concoctions of feathers and fire.

* * *

In the morning, Sabo is a worried mess of questions, but Ace lets him poke and prod as much as he pleases without much complaint. If the situation was turned around, he knows that he would act the same way. Pidge is a little dopey, choosing to situate himself back inside Ace's scarf to hide from the sunlight, but seems fine apart from that. Even though there isn't a single person on the docks, Ace still feels strangely like he's being watched, and tells Sabo this uneasily.

 _You said this place looks like an agricultural island, but the people all look malnourished?_ Sabo doesn't appear to have much more of an idea than Ace, but he's just as interested. _There's a chance that there's something like a mini-hierarchy; everything is controlled by the person who owns the fields, and they don't really care for the people who work on them. Have you seen any larger looking houses?_

 _Nope_ , replies Ace, _Should I look?_

 _I don't see why not,_ Sabo agrees. _But Ace, don't get pulled into something bigger than yourself. Something about all this is putting me on edge, too._

 _You know me, I'm very cautious,_ Ace teases before shutting off the bond. Standing, he gives Pidge a small pet, stretching his arms lazily. He'll avoid the pub, the teen decides with a shiver, before ascending into the town. He still doesn't have shoes, so he'll look like an idiot, but Ace doesn't particularly care at this moment in time.

The people still look at him like he's of a different species as he passes them, and Ace pointedly smiles at all of them, only getting blank or hostile looks in return. He presses on, though, determined to not let this town turn him into something like its people. He catches sight of one of the men from the pub the night before, the burly one who slammed his head against the table, and speeds up his pace as eyes burn into his back.

Pidge, picking up on Ace's unease, pokes his tiny head out of his scarf and flutters up to sit on his head. The warmth nestled into his hair manages to calm down Ace marginally, at least, and he goes back to his task. To him, all of the rundown wooden houses look exactly the same, none looking particularly more glamorous than the last.

Walking past the mouth of a gap in the houses, Ace pauses and backpedals, staring into the sunlight that shines through at the end of the alley. There, on a hill parallel to the village, is a huge mansion-like house. The sun glints off the windows ominously, and Ace has that sudden feeling that, once again, somebody is watching him.

"Wondering what that old house is?"

Ace flinches, whirling around to come face-to-face with a blue-haired girl crossing her skinny arms at him. Though she doesn't exactly look welcoming, she doesn't have the same desperate fight-or-flee instinct in her eyes that the others of this town do. She looks Ace up and down with a look of utter suspicion, violently bright hair pulled back tightly so that no parts hang down over her face.

Ace decides to be civil. "Yeah," he murmurs, leaning against a nearby wall. "You got any idea?"

The suspicion in her face lessens somewhat. "Come with me."

With that abrupt sentence she's gone, as if whisked away on the wind, and Ace scrambles to run after her. Her bright blue hair disappears down a sidestreet and then into what looks like the entrance to a storeroom, concealed in shadows. Hesitating, Ace stumbles in after her, and the door slams shut behind him as soon as he's over the threshold.

After a second of darkness, lights flick on and Ace blinks, trying to focus. He's in a high-ceilinged room with no windows, lit a few lighting strips on the ceiling and looking altogether worse for wear. The floor is bare and cold, and there's a table across from where Ace stands, along with a few street maps. On the table sit three small potted mikan trees. The blue-haired girl is already at the other side of the room, fiddling with a dial on the wall. After a minute or so of Ace standing awkwardly at the door, she turns around.

"I'm Vivi," she says, gesturing for Ace to walk over. He does so carefully, ready to run at any given second, but something tells him that he can trust this strange girl. She looks about the same age as him, maybe a little younger. Tugging her hair out of its tight bindings, Vivi pulls it into a looser ponytail, letting her bangs frame her face.

Ace realises that he's staring and flushes, muttering, "I'm Ace."

"Nice to meet you, Ace." Vivi sits down at the round table, and Ace takes a seat across from her, plucking Pidge off his head and depositing him on his shoulder. He can smell the mikan from where he's sitting.

"What's all this about? What is that house, anyway?" he asks.

Vivi gives a heavy sigh and, for a second, it's like the whole world rests on her shoulders. She's just like him and Sabo, Ace realises with a jolt. She has an incredibly impossible mission and no idea where to start or what to do.

"That's the house of the man who rules over this place – Mayor Loftus. He's…not exactly a kind leader, if you get what I'm saying." She runs a hand through her bangs, heart-shaped face full of grief. "We don't have food or water. Whenever somebody tries to fight back, he just orders us to kill them and we can't say no. He takes all of our produce and leaves us with peanuts for wages."

"Why can't you say no?" Ace asks, confused. This kind of obedience disconcerts him; he's completely unused to it.

Vivi stares at him for a long moment. "Where are you from?"

"Edgetown, in the east," Ace answers truthfully. "Why?"

"Your accent." Vivi rubs her eyes. "Your accent, and your complete lack of understanding about what's going on here."

"Excuse me?"

"We're not united. There are less than a thousand people living on this island and I'm sure that if we all worked together, we could bring down Loftus together, but-" She grits her teeth in frustration. "Every time we try to form a resistance, somebody tells Loftus and he just bars us from the fields until we're close to starvation, like rats. Some people have tried to escape – some people have even succeeded – but this is our home. What right does he have to drive us away from it?"

The empathy that Ace feels for these people, Vivi included, skyrockets. While he knows just what it's like to be conquered by a malevolent dictator, Blackbeard is so strong that neither Ace nor anybody else could stand a chance of facing him. To be conquered by a single man, however, and starved like vermin… Ace can't imagine how much humiliation and anger that must cause.

"I'll help you, cousin," he says before his mind processes what he's saying.

Vivi's whole face lights up. "Thank you! If you managed to get away from the east, you must be pretty strong! Can you fight?" The barrage of information hits Ace as he's still trying to process what he just signed up for.

"I guess?" Ace clears his throat. "Yes, I can fight," he repeats, stronger this time.

"That's great!" After a second, though, the other teen seems to deflate a little. "How are we going to do it?"

Feeling a sudden surge of alarm from Sabo, Ace checks in. _You alright?_

 _Fine!_ Sabo grunts, before closing off the bond, probably trying to focus on the fight that he's now evidently wrapped in. Ace returns to reality. Vivi's staring at him, concerned.

"Are you okay…?"

"Fine. Just zoned out for a second." Trying to change the subject, Ace says, "Do you have any people who you know won't go to tell the Mayor?" Vivi nods. "Gather them here. I'll try to check out the Mayor's place, see if I can gauge his position and what it'll take to take him down."

Vivi nods, fire in her eyes. "You'll be back here in an hour or two?"

Grinning, Ace replies, "Of course I will."

* * *

The majority of Ace's time watching Mayor Loftus makes him want to throw up in his mouth. The man acts like he's the ruler of the whole world, not just some little island in the northeast. He's not even strong. Loftus himself is an old man with a set of yellow teeth and a pot-belly that Ace has pretty much never seen among the gaunt people of the Eastern Seas. He's obviously quite wealthy, flaunting gold jewellery that makes Ace's mouth water and eating however much he pleases.

When Ace does return to Vivi's base – is it her home? Ace doesn't feel like he should ask – it's around noon. Slipping inside, he's immediately met with a dozen mistrustful looks, but puts his hands up in surrender until Vivi appears out of nowhere to diffuse the situation.

"Ace!" she calls, pushing in front of the ragtag group of villagers, mostly teens, who she's gathered. "What did you find out?"

Ace relays his information. The man should be ridiculously easy to knock out, and so long as they can convince the people while he's unconscious that they are free to revolt now, then he has pretty much no power. "The man isn't anything special. The only power he has is the ability to command the people of Kaira."

"You're talkin' like you know us," says a man at the back. Ace winces as his eyes land on his face; it's the bartender.

Rubbing at his bruised forehead absently, Ace says, "I came from the east, under Blackbeard's reign, cousin. I do know you. And I want to help, but we can only take the fucker down if you have everybody in the town up in arms. He's just one man."

That shuts the bartender up nicely, and Ace turns back to his blue-haired friend, ignoring the stares now riveted on him. "I say we strike at dusk. What time do the workers get out of the fields?"

"About an hour before sunset," Vivi informs, ushering Ace to sit down at the round table with the others.

"Perfect. I'll try to knock him out – no, Vivi, listen. I'm not a resident. If I get caught, then he won't be able to pin it on the townspeople. If I fail, we try plan two and we bring in some of you." Ace rests his elbows on the table, looking around, and Pidge falls off his shoulder and onto the table with an indignant tweet. "Who here can fight?"

A teenager with rusty blond hair, glasses and a scar on his face raises a hand. "My dad taught me," he says shortly. A few of the others raise their hands too, including the bartender, but Ace knows just by looking at them that he's the strongest one here. They're all too frail to show any kind of expertise when it comes to fighting, and most are probably untrained.

"Good. If I manage to subdue Loftus, then you'll have a few hours to convince your people that you don't have to obey him anymore. Make them see reason. I'll keep the dick incapacitated. Assuming I fail and get shot or something, then it's up to you to throw your fear away." Ace keeps his voice firm.

When he glances to Vivi, the black-haired boy can see that she looks nauseated. "Are you sure you're willing to risk that?"

"I lost my little brother," replies Ace quietly, "I know what this kind of thing can lead to. You can't keep living like this." Lifting his head, he smiles. "I won't die, cousin."

Vivi looks dubious but nods, before giving a weak laugh and saying, "Why do you call everybody that anyway?"

The tension around the table dissolves. "It's an eastern thing," Ace says dismissively. "We all do it."

"Seriously?" Vivi looks genuinely fascinated. "Your culture is pretty based on familiarity, then?"

"Yeah, I-"

"Before you get into a conversation about our eastern neighbours," the boy with rusty-blonde hair says, "We know the plan? You'll leave here at dusk to try to subdue him, and we'll gather everybody together to try and tell them that, if we overthrow him, we won't be afraid anymore?"

"That's it," affirms Ace. He glances across the table to the bartender, gauging his facial expression.

"I'm not saying I trust you, brat," the man says slowly, "But this might just work."

* * *

As the sun sets, Ace and Pidge leave the base and slip out of the town, the darkness protecting them from view. Ace tells Sabo the plan as he walks, and Sabo tells him that he's an idiot and that, yes, he'll help him fight. Ace is in the mood to burn down a snob's house tonight.

Approaching the large front gates of the house on the hill, Ace stares the house up and down. The walls are an even pinkish-peach , spotless windows bright with the fading sunlight, and garden leading up to the front door is immaculate. If he didn't know just who had been forced to build this beautiful house, Ace might feel a little apprehensive about burning it to the ground. Right now, though, he doesn't give a damn.

Pidge flies over the spiked gates easily and Ace climbs over a second later, throwing himself over and hitting the ground hard just to avoid the sharp spikes that line the top. He lies still for a second, afraid that somebody heard the racket, before sitting up and starting to creep, half-crouched, towards the intimidating house. He takes care to step on as many perfectly gardened flowers as he can.

Reaching the door, Ace considers knocking, but gives up the idea. This man deserves anything but courtesy. Lashing out with one booted foot – Vivi took one look at his bare feet earlier and nearly fainted – Ace kicks the huge, mahogany door open, sending it slamming into the wall and bouncing back on its hinges. The huge racket that it creates brings two servants running (Ace assumes that they're villagers) and Ace says in a level voice, "Do you want to live?"

Hesitation. The pair, hollow-cheeked and dressed in drab uniform that does nothing to hide the lack of meat on their bones, exchange a look before one steps forward and nods. "Yes."

"Run," commands Ace. They glance at each other once more and Ace repeats, " _Run!_ " His voice sounds too rough and commanding to be his own, but he relishes in the fact that they take off out of the open door within seconds.

If there are any more servants, then they aren't coming anytime soon. From his scouting earlier, Ace can guess that Loftus lives in the largest room. It's skewered with a ridiculous looking spire, and from what Ace could see through the window, has a bed that's large enough to house a small family. He snorts, making his way up the stairs at a leisurely pace as hit boots click on the cold marble floors. Sabo is silent, but Ace can feel him watching.

First floor. By Ace's calculations, the mayor's room should be on the second floor. If the man's asleep, all the better. It'll make it far easier to take him down.

Second floor. Ace edges along the corridor, feet silent against the overly-fluffy carpet. The first door opens onto what looks like a spare bedroom, and Ace allows himself a moment to stare enviously at the soft, expensive linens that cover the king-sized bed. Moving on, he finds that the second door opens up onto a sparkling bathroom, and closes the door quickly in fear of being blinded by the needlessly shiny tiles. Everything about this place makes bile rise in his throat.

The third door along is the one that finally opens up onto his destination. Loftus lies like a beached whale on the bed, and Ace grins in a significantly feral way. His fist ignites into fire. Pidge flits back, seeming to sense that Ace's anger isn't something that he wants to be in the path of.

"Surprise," Ace whispers, before he pulls his fist back and lunges forward, letting his flames sing forward once again.

* * *

 **Hella gay Revolutionary!Vivi is my favourite thing (in case you couldn't tell). Also, yes, the town of Kaira has a really important role in the future of this fic and the people of Kaira do come in later!**

 **Please review! Please?**


	9. 1-9 - Watercolour

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **imma go sleep but please review! Review replies at the bottom.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - Watercolour**

* * *

For a man who looks like he hasn't done a day of work in his life, Loftus is surprisingly fast. Ace's flames send the bedframe bursting into light and he scrambles back, fat jiggling as he gives an undignified yelp of alarm. As smoke fills the room at an alarming rate, the mayor of Kaira scrambles off the bed and falls to the floor with a loud 'thump', only to be slammed against the wall by his neck.

"Surprise, you bastard," Ace growls in the man's ear. His mind flashes to the night before, when the men jumped him in the bar, and he copies the stance of the largest one, wrapping his arm so tightly around Loftus' neck that his panicked shouts cut off.

Raising his fist to knock him out as the fire starts to spread dangerously, Ace is caught off guard when Loftus throws his head back, meaty skull catching him squarely in the nose. Yelping in agony, Ace cracks his fist into the man's skull and he goes limp. Throwing the large window open, Ace hauls the heavy deadweight over his shoulders, thanking Christ for his abnormal strength. Maybe fire wasn't the best idea. Staring down at the sheer drop of over fifteen feet, Ace glances back at the fire that's now licking up the walls, then back down again.

Screw it all. Ace drags the man to the window pane and topples him out, hearing a sickening thud from far below, before throwing himself out just as he feels fire lick at his leg. Coughing violently through the smoke filling his lungs, Ace is suspended silently on the wind for a split second before plummeting to earth.

The hard ground rushes up to meet him impossibly fast, and Ace chokes out a scream and-

His collision with the grassy earth sends harsh, cold pain through his legs like he's never felt before. The world spins around him, and time is immaterial; it takes somewhere between minutes and hours for his vision to return. By the time is does, the house is ablaze; smoke pours into the sky in abundance. Ace can barely hear the crackling of fire over the painful pounding of his pulse in his skull. His legs are hanging in the balance, somewhere between agony and complete numbness.

Forcing himself to sit up, Ace feels like he's hurt everywhere, but he's alive. With all of this pain flowering across him, deep-seated in his bones as adrenaline shoots through him and ash coats his skin, Ace feels so purely _alive_ that he whoops, voice hoarse, staring up at the sky with a wide grin. Pidge is at his side, feeble but moving, and Sabo tells him again that he's a complete moron.

 _What possessed you?!_ Sabo asks over and over, but soon he's laughing too. A few feet away, Loftus is motionless, and as night settles in Ace somehow manages to find his strength again. His legs are aching and they shake as he walks, but the fourteen-year old just considers himself lucky that they aren't broken. _That_ would be a pain to deal with, both literally and figuratively. After pacing back and forth for a few minutes, trying to get feeling back into his legs as fire engulfs the once-beautiful house, Ace starts to lug Loftus towards Kaira again. Though the man is ridiculously overweight, he isn't particularly tall, and Ace carries him unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes. The mansion smoulders in his wake.

Reaching Kaira again, Ace finds it silent. The townspeople must be gathered somewhere – Vivi and the others have done their job well. Deciding to check the base from earlier out first, Ace stumbles through the streets that he barely knows, back starting to burn and tingle under his burden. After all this, he realises with a growl, he still isn't much stronger.

Pidge flying above his head, Ace reaches the warehouse and strains his ears for the sound of activity from inside. Sure enough, there is a quiet hum that tells him that the entire town are gathered there. Having grown up in a crowded city like Edgetown, Ace has to marvel at just how small this place is. For every resident to be able to fit inside one warehouse… No wonder they were conquered by just one man.

"And why should we?!" The angry voice breaks Ace out of his thoughts. "What's stopping me from going and telling Mayor Loftus right now? You know the kind of rewards he offers when you do him a favour!"

Vivi's desperate, frustrated voice floats from somewhere near the door. "We don't have to live under him anymore! He's just a man. If we start up our own leadership, stabilise our own economy, we can all have enough to live and more without one man taking it all! How can you not see that?!"

The man stutters angrily before loud, angry footsteps stomp towards the door. Before the man can reach it, Ace pulls open the door, letting Loftus drop gracelessly from his shoulders to the ground. Light from inside washes over him. With hundreds of eyes on him, the teen is suddenly all-too aware of the blood on his face from his bleeding nose and the ash and soot covering his body. Loftus doesn't move.

"I told you I wouldn't die," he grins.

"Ace!" Vivi darts forward. Her blue hair his pulled back from her face, and she stares at him without shame, eyes wide. "What happened to you?!"

Stumbling inside, Ace catches himself against the wall, utterly conscious of the huge crowd focussed solely on him. His knees shake slightly, so he locks them, trying to hold together his last few scraps of dignity. "He put up a bit of a fight," Ace says casually.

"A bit of a fight?!" The teen with glasses steps forward, alarmed. "Doctor Lee, get him bandages up right now or so help me."

Ace looks the other teen up and down appreciatively, even as the woman he assumes is 'Doctor Lee' drags him to the corner of the room and starts checking his nose and legs with the clinical forcefulness that only doctors possess. He didn't expect that guy to be the one to step into the leader role, but stranger things have happened.

Ace lends half an ear to the rest of the meeting. Now that Loftus is splayed out on the floor at their feet, the villagers seem to be slowly realising that they don't have to listen to his every command. Vivi looks weak with relief, and one by one (many shooting glances to the injured teen who did what they never could) the people of Kaira agree to start anew. When Loftus wakes up, no matter what he does, nobody will listen to his commands anymore. This, at least, they can all agree on.

Slowly, it hits people that maybe their troubles are over now. It's something beautiful that Ace feels almost unworthy of seeing, and he keeps himself and Pidge tucked away in the corner as wagonloads of produce are carted in, the chefs who once worked for Loftus cooking food for their families and their people. A girl with a guitar and a boy with some buckets and tins for a drum kit strike up an oddly charming tune, and Ace leans back against the wall with a small smile.

If this is what being a revolutionary is, then Ace knows already that he loves it with every cell in his body. Maybe someday he can go back to Edgetown and liberate the people there, too. Will the bitter people there rejoice like this, dance hand-in-hand in the streets now that their troubles are finally through?

Ace can't wait to find out.

* * *

The next morning, Vivi insists on feeding Ace until he can't eat anymore. Her gratitude, and that of the rest of the village, is humbling. Ace is a mess of bruises, face looking more like an swollen black and blue concoction than his own face, and his legs twinge with each movement. Despite this, though, Ace knows that he has to move on pretty soon. The people of this town need to build back up from the bottom, find a new leader (Ace is rooting for the kid with glasses, personally) and take precautions to make sure this never happens again.

Watching Loftus trying to control people again just about makes Ace's year. He and Sabo are in tears as they watch him stumble around, yelling orders and getting no response. When he recognises Ace and lunges at him in a fit of childish rage, the bartender from before is suddenly there, holding the man back with rough hands. "That kid saved us," he says simply.

(Ace wants to say no, you could have rebelled the whole time, you just didn't seem to realise that Loftus is human. He keeps his mouth shut)

Pidge is a favourite with the children. Ace warns them to be careful with the bird, but leaves them be aside from that. The little bird doesn't look like he minds; on the contrary, he sucks up the attention like a sponge. Ace can't remember the last time he smiled so much, and the day gets even better when Sabo tells him that he's finally reached his destination in the south. The victory, relief and pride that flow from the blonde have Ace grinning so widely that his face aches by the time the sun sets.

"Okay, well maybe I'll stay for just one more night…" Ace says hesitantly. The teens gathered around him, listening to wild stories of his childhood and the past year of travelling, cheer and whoop. Ace actually feels like a kid again, surrounded by lanky, happy teens clamouring to hear what crazy escapades he's seen. He can almost pretend that none of the stories are real as they flow off his tongue.

"Hell yeah!" A girl with violet hair who Ace vaguely remembers is called Carina slaps him on the back. "Hey, how long did you say you've been travelling? Did you ever see Blackbeard with your own eyes?!"

And they're back to storytelling again. The story of Pidge is met with many laughs, and Ace divulges some of Luffy's crazier stunts from their youth that have the other youngsters howling with laughter. When he reveals that he's travelling to see the revolutionary army, Ace is pinned with a dozen awed looks, and the questions flow in more quickly.

The best part of the night is the moment when Ace is telling another story of his brothers and a quiet girl whose name he doesn't know asks if he can describe them to her so she can sketch them. While the rest of the teens start up a drinking game with something sweet-smelling and golden (Ace firmly passes on that), he and the girl sit on the corner of the flat roof they're all spread out on and Ace tells her all about his brothers in immense detail. As she sketches, he takes over occasionally to fix shapes and proportions, and by the end of the night Luffy and Sabo beam up at him from the page.

The girl pulls the paper back towards her once they're done, scribbling away for a few seconds. Ace waits patiently and when she hands it back to him, Ace can see himself standing between them, arms wrapped around them and smiling the brightest of all as Pidge perches on his head. He treasures that sketch and the memories it brings, both of his brothers and of today.

The storytelling and joking stretch on through the night, and before Ace knows it, the horizon starts to lighten. Half of the teens are passed out around the roof, huddled together with a familiarity that Ace could never have expected from the people of the town he saw only two days ago, and Ace is dead on his feet himself. Tucking the sleeping Pidge under his chin, he thanks the girl yet again for the sketch and slips down the drainpipe, wincing as he hits the ground.

Veins burning with something indescribable, Ace smiles, starting to walk towards Vivi's base – or rather, house. As his eyes ache with tiredness, Ace realises that since he jumped out of Loftus' mansion, he still hasn't stopped feeling alive.

* * *

In the end, it's Sabo who convinces Ace to stay at Kaira for a little while. There's a lot of work to be done here, and the blonde teen thinks that Ace could try to help for at least a few weeks. Ace, of course, is completely against the idea.

"You've already reached your destination! I'm miles behind you, I can't just waste time. You told me that yourself!" Ace would probably look insane, talking to himself alone in the fields of Kaira, but there's nobody here to see him.

 _This isn't a race, Ace!_ Sabo softens. _And now it's you who I'm worried about. You're going to work yourself to death._

"Kind of like somebody else I know," mutters Ace under his breath.

Sabo seems to be trying to think of a good way to get the message across. _Ace, I'm guessing you feel a lot of my emotions, like I feel yours?_

"Yeah, I guess. Why?"

 _You probably feel bits of everything. Happiness, worry, fear, anger, contentedness. It's just a mix of emotion._ Ace nods, knowing Sabo can't see him. _You know what I feel coming from you?_ There's a hint of sadness so deep-set that Ace doesn't know how he never saw it before. _I feel your hunger. I feel the ache in your muscles and the bomb right beneath your skin that's been there since Loguetown. Every time some awful shit happens to you, shit you don't deserve, I feel you shove it down so forcefully you feel like you're going to break_.

Sabo's voice stays icily cold as he talks. A chill snakes across Ace's skin. "Sabo, I-I…"

 _Your legs are a complete mess,_ Sabo continues, _And you know just as well as I do that you've lost more weight than you can imagine. I'm not asking for much. Just stay with Vivi and the others for a few weeks. Don't you want Pidge to be able to rest up?_

The last part is what does it for Ace. "Okay, okay. But only a few weeks, you got that?"

Sabo whoops, before announcing that tomorrow he's going to start training with the marines so he should sleep now before it's too late and he's exhausted. Before he shuts off the bond for the night, Sabo snorts and says, _We're really a mess, aren't we?_

Ace laughs, starting to sneak back off to the town under the stars. Fingering the sketch in his pocket, the teen wonders whether both of his brothers are looking up at those stars. "Of course we are. Get some sleep, Sab."

* * *

Once Ace finally bucks up the courage to ask if he can stay for a little while, the people of Kaira welcome him with open arms. "Not that we're not happy to have you, but what's brought this on?" Vivi asks.

"My brother keeps nagging me to take better care of myself." Ace rolls his eyes, ignoring the questioning look he can feel from Vivi. "Are you sure you're okay with my staying-"

"For the last time, Ace, yes!" Vivi looks somewhere between exasperation and laughter. "Of course we want you here. You've helped us so much, even if you don't know it. So just accept our gratitude!"

Laughing along, Ace settles Pidge down on his shoulder and stretches. "So, how can I help out?"

* * *

Working on the fields gives Ace a kind of satisfaction that he can't really place. The feeling of working under the sun, surrounded by people all working towards the same pursuit as you, being part of one big unit… Ace sort of likes it. Especially now that the villagers are much more content than they were before. They're working of their own free will now, not just because they were forced to by a dictator.

Pulling up three more weeds that have managed to bury themselves in the roots of a grapevine, Ace checks in on his brother. _How're you doing over there?_

Sabo groans. _They're not exactly going easy with their training. But I can manage. I found a way to cover up our Mark, anyway. How about you? If you've left Kaira after only three days…_ He trails off threateningly.

Ace gives a soft laugh, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his back. _Nope, I'm still here. And, are you sure you're okay?_

 _Hey, give me some credit, I'm strong!_ Ace sees right through the lame attempt to stop him from worrying, but doesn't comment on it. _I'll be fine. Just focus on getting your legs healed up and then you can set off again, alright? You're almost there._

Ace rolls his eyes. _Talk soon, Sabo._

* * *

Ace's good mood only falters after a few days of living in Kaira. The newspaper comes in and Vivi reads it from across the breakfast table – Ace is staying with her for now – and as soon as she starts reading the front page, she shoots Ace a look of mild look of concern.

Fork half-way to his mouth, Ace says, "What is it?"

"You said you came from Edgetown in the east, right?" The blue-haired girl passes the paper over, looking grave.

It takes Ace a few minutes to register what's written on the front of the revolutionary-supplied newspaper. His eyes can't seem to focus. There, on the front cover, is the picture of a body of flame suspended on the water. It is – or used to be – an island. Unlike what happened to Loguetown, there are no people swimming away from Edgetown, no survivors of the massacre. Ace can almost feel the smoke in his eyes, the fire on his skin. The top of the page reads, ' _EDGETOWN DECIMATED IN GOVERNMENT TEMPER TANTRUM'._

As if seeing himself from the other side of a long tunnel, Ace registers that his hands are shaking. This isn't a goddamn _temper tantrum_. This is murder. This is cold-hearted murder. Everything he's ever known – the tree where they became brothers, their makeshift hideout, the port where he met Sabo, the teenaged tattoo artist with dark eyes – burning. Probably still burning right now. A fire like that, that kind of destruction, doesn't go away overnight.

Edgetown simply doesn't exist anymore. It's like it never did. Ace realises with a chill of horror that if Luffy hadn't been taken, like he's wished for everyday for months, then all three brothers would have been caught in the carnage too.

"Ace…?" Vivi tries softly. "Are you okay?"

Ace coughs, rubbing a hand over his face as he tries desperately not to cry. He can't cry now, not when it's already done. Why can't he just be stronger than all of this? Biting his lip harshly, the teen turns sharply on his heel and mutters something about getting some air, sprinting out of the warehouse and into the sunlight. He can barely see through the salt in his eyes. He runs out of the town and into the forest, ignoring curious looks from the townspeople, and only stops running when he reaches a cliff overlooking the sea.

Even though his legs desperately want to give out, Ace doesn't let himself fall. He can't. Not when there's nobody to catch him. Biting down on his lip so hard that it starts to bleed, Ace screws up his face and forces the tears to stop, makes himself calm his breathing. Clenching his fists so tightly that crescent-shaped marks carve themselves into his palms, the grey-eyed boy doesn't move until his tears are completely dried out.

"Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry," he finds himself muttering. "You can't cry. Not yet."

Sabo appears to have picked up on his anguish and is leaving him to his grief, hovering just over the boundary in case Ace needs him. There are waves of sorrow coming off him too – an image of Luffy's straw hat, left on the island, flashes through Ace's mind and he struggles to hold back another choked gasp. Shanks is going to think that they're dead. Everybody he laid eyes on as a child, every man and woman who he watched become slaves of Blackbeard, dead. It's not fair. It's so not fair that Ace's blood thrums with indignance, grief over a people he barely knew, people like him.

When every last inch of his grief is gone, Ace treks to lower ground and jumps in the sea, regardless of the fact that he's wearing his clothes. Under the water, feeling the sea salt sting his eyes, he can pretend that he's back at Edgetown, swimming with Sabo and Luffy, seeing a world filled with nothing but wonder. The rain doesn't come, like Ace would expect it to.

( _Too cold for rain, he remembers)_

But still, Ace doesn't allow tears to fall. By the time he climbs out of the sea, shivering and sopping wet, there is no more evidence of his grief. Sabo asks cautiously, _Are you okay?_

 _Fine, Sabo. I_ ' _m just fine._ Neither brother believes him, but Sabo wisely drops it, saying something about getting back to training.

And then Ace is alone. Walking back to the town that accepts him, that cares about him for doing nothing more than some mediocre fighting, Ace says, "I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine."

* * *

Days pass in a blur. More nights spent with ragtag teens on rooftops, filled with laughter and affection, help to heal the searing wounds left on Ace's heart. Vivi spends quiet evenings and early mornings talking to him about everything and nothing – about his brothers and about his home, or just about the weather and his plans for the future. Ace decides that if he's going to carry on living, then he needs to do it in the present, not dwelling on the past. The time for mourning is over.

Before Ace knows it, three weeks have passed, and something inside him – scrap that; a very large part of him – wants to get back out on the open sea again. Sabo agrees grudgingly. _Just make sure you eat enough and sleep enough, or I'll kick your ass the next time I see you._

 _I'd like to see you try, little brother._

 _We're the same age!_

Snickering, Ace packs the few possessions he owns and strolls down to the docks in the dead of night. It's raining. This is the twilight hour – and no soul in the city is awake to watch as rain fills the gutters. Ace is a shadow, a stranger to these people, and they don't need goodbyes. Pushing off, he fires up striker and roars across the water, watching Vivi and the town of Kaira fade away into the blackness. Pidge is sleeping in his bag, which Ace is careful to keep dry and clutches close to him as the wind buffets him.

Kaira, and all of the people who live there, are in the past now. _Snip, snip_. He cuts away another attachment, turns around and stares into the horizon with war drums ringing in his ears. No more distractions. No more sadness. His mind is firmly set on his brothers, on s _tronger, and stronger, and stronger than that._ The world that took his family and his home is one that he has to grin and bear, because this isn't about Ace anymore. Nobody gives a damn about his tears, so they have to stop.

And quickly, imperceptibly, the wind changes.

* * *

Even though Edgetown is only a speck on the horizon, he can still hear it burning. The fire makes an awful sound, sort of like the crumpling of paper. It's grating to the teen's ears, but he ignores it in favour of steering the little raft that he managed to slip away in. Honestly, it's a surprise that he's the only one that escaped. It doesn't particularly bother the teen, to be completely honest. If he was the only one with enough brain cells to realise that a government plane circling the island didn't spell good news, then so be it. Law never did have much sympathy for the weak.

Glancing down to the floor of the wooden boat, the eighteen-year old tattoo artist sighs and picks through the few morsels of food he managed to grab before he left. A few slices of bread, an apple and something bad-smelling that slightly resembles a fish. Sort of. Then there's his yellow sweatshirt, torn off as his skin ached with the heat of the flames, and a spotted hat. Then, finally, an object that makes Law frown and ask himself again why he brought it with him.

About a year ago, three street brats came to his rundown tattoo parlour on the edge of town, the two older-looking ones looking to get some (honestly pretty strange) tattoos. They weren't anything special. Law was happy to ignore their existence and forget that they'd ever visited when, as the three trooped out of the door, Law caught sight of a black, swirling mark on the back of the freckled one's neck.

A mark very similar, though not identical, to his own.

From then on, Law kept an eye on them. Even though they were all obviously used to living rough, the older two wise beyond their years, they were still so young. They didn't notice that sometimes, Law's path crossed theirs, or that they had a shadow of their own in the streets. Something about the trio – maybe freckles' strange, abnormal strength or the blonde one's mannerisms or the youngest one's innocence – interested him immensely.

When they disappeared entirely in January, leaving no trace within the city itself that they had ever existed, Law's curiosity intensified. He ventured into the mountain of garbage outside the city to find where he knew they'd undoubtedly lived, stumbling across a pretty pathetic looking shack made up of enough scrap metal that it looked drenched in rust. Law snorted at the sight, until he noticed something yellow peeking out from the hut.

Feeling utterly undignified, he crawled inside on his hands and knees and pulled out the light, circular object. Sitting in the dust, Law spun the youngest boy's hat on this finger lazily, considering just what it could mean if it was still here. A few months later, and his home is destroyed. Law isn't really upset about it – the place stunk of rotten people. He survived, and that's really all that matters to him.

Looking up at the sky, the sun starting to descend and cutting through the afternoon sky, Law picks up his oars and starts to row rather leisurely. He doesn't really have anywhere to go; in fact, he never has. After Cora-san taught him how to tattoo, kept him company and acted as a father would for the first few years of Law's life, he left in the middle of the night without a trace and Law has been alone ever since.

Sighing, Law rows on. Maybe he'll reach another island soon, or maybe he won't. Maybe he'll even starve – or, on the contrary, he'll survive. Who knows? Certainly not him.

Not that he cares much, really.

* * *

 **If you saw how I referred back to chapter one in that last scene with ace leaving then you're a heckin genius and you get a cookie**

 **Review replies!**

 **The guest who called those guys assholes: yes I agree! Really not good people. I mean, they do have a really bad situation but that's no excuse. Ace's trust…becomes a pretty big issue in the future. I won't spoil anything ;) And thank you so much! Sorry this chapter took so long. Usually I can get one 5k chap out per day, but some days it just takes so much longggeeerrr gahhhh**

 **PyromaniacBlackWings: ASDFGHJK THANK YOU SO MUCH? Reviews mean so much to me wow and thank you for the stuff about the worldbuilding/my art! There should be a lot more of both of those things to come. And Idk, they are hard to write but I reckon I can pull it off! I hope… and I hope you like where this goes next too :D**


	10. 1-10 - The Child from the East

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **this took so long orzzzzzz. Review replies be at the bottom**

* * *

 **Chapter 10 – The Child from the East**

* * *

 _I was the match and you were the rock_

 _Maybe we started this fire  
We sat apart and watched  
All we had burned on the pyre  
You said, 'we were born with nothing,  
And we sure as hell have nothing now'_

\- _Things We Lost in the Fire_

* * *

 _I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… S._

 _Sun?_

 _Nope._

 _Sky?_

 _No-pe._

 _Sea?_

 _Bingo._

 _…_

 _This is boring. Hey, wait a sec, is that a-_

Ace breaks away from his conversation with Sabo to lean forward, holding onto Striker's single mast and squinting into the sunlight. It's freezing cold, but no goosebumps appear on the teen's skin; his tolerance to the cold has risen significantly in the last year. On the horizon, a single speck of land slowly pulls out of the morning mist, and Ace grins fiercely. Perched on top of the mast as Ace's fire lights up the bottom of the boat, Pidge gives a joyful chirp.

"Hey, Sabo, I think I've found it!" Ace's voice is hoarse from misuse.

 _No fucking-_ Sabo makes a choked, goofy little noise of glee. _Finally! Ace, you- I-_

"I know!" Ace runs his hand back through his hair, feeling the sea spray on his clothes and his cheeks. "I did it!"

 _Maybe you'll finally actually get some sleep now,_ Sabo mutters petulantly, but Ace can't hear his brother over the sound of pure victory in his ears. Finally. Ace has _finally_ reached the island that Pidge pointed to on the map when they first arrived in the northern area six months ago; the island that houses the Revolutionary Army. It almost feels surreal – a big part of Ace doesn't believe that it's actually happening. The waves leap high around his fire-powered speedboat, smarting Ace's skin with their refreshing, icy waves, and the island draws closer with every second.

It's been over seven months since Ace left Kaira. Vivi, Carina and the others are just vague shapes on the edge of his memory, as are the countless other souls he's met on this journey, and all the teen has to his name are a few changes of clothes, some coins, Striker, his compass and the sketch of his brothers that the girl did. Oh, and Pidge. Pidge, he might add, who has now grown so much that Ace has to use both hands to hold him and he no longer fits in Ace's pocket. The lazy little bugger spends most days draped over Ace's head, feathers tickling the tops of his ears, and his blue plumage is gaining more vibrancy every day.

Sabo's ripping through his naval training, rising in rank faster than could ever have expected. He started as a petty officer, doing odd jobs and frustrated at his lack of combat, before rising to corporal and then, finally, sergeant. Sabo hates having to fight revolutionary towns, having to shoot down villagers who just want to rebel against the system that occupies the southern area, but he pushes through it with an iron resolve that Ace admires. His brother baffles him sometimes. They're on completely different sides of the world – Ace in the revolutionary-occupied north, Sabo in the government-controlled south – and yet he trains and trains for a cause he hates just so that he can try to find Luffy. He's a far better person than Ace.

The north… Ace can't even begin to describe how different things are here. There are no hollow faces and dead eyes, and visible scars garner stares, not just passing glances. Instead of looks of annoyance and irritation from every side, people look at Ace with concern, ask how he is in the streets. Ace figures he looks like a complete mess to these well-built, healthy people. It's bloody freezing up here, too, and Ace doesn't feel like he can really make himself steal much from here, so he just tries to bear it until he gets to the Revolutionary Army.

Which he's now finally reached, apparently. It still seems barely real and for the first time, a hint of anxiety claws at Ace's insides. What if they don't want him? He's still young. Ace turns fifteen in three weeks. What if they turn him away, tell him to come back when he's seventeen and leave him out in the dust? There's no doubt that Ace would survive – after this year, he's pretty sure he could live through Armageddon – but the though still forms a deep pothole in his stomach.

The journey up to the island seems to take longer than the rest of the journey combined. Pidge soon shifts from the top of the mast to Ace's head, warm body soon stilling as he goes to sleep. Narcoleptic little idiot. Ace smiles fondly and veers around the island, trying to find a secluded place to tie up Striker. The island itself is quite large, and covered in different buildings of varying sizes. On one rock-covered beach near a small lagoon, a group of children play and wave to Ace when he passes them. None of this feels real.

Soon, Ace finds an abandoned, dilapidated pier around to the south side of the island and drags himself and his speedboat onto the rough wood. It feels suspiciously unsteady under his feet but it's _land_ – sweet, sweet northern land. Depositing Striker on the cold rocks, Ace stretches his stiff muscles and slips his (somehow still surviving) striped bag over his shoulder. Pidge is still asleep, breathing softly into the hollow behind Ace's ear, and Ace tugs at his scarf.

He knows he doesn't really need it anymore, but it's a force of habit, Ace muses as he starts to trek through the dense foliage towards the area where he saw buildings. People here don't really care here if you have a Mark. At all. It's incredibly disconcerting. Realising that he's trying to distract himself from the meeting that's evidently due to occur soon, Ace shakes his head and pushes on, nettles and thorns catching on his shins.

The forest is tranquil and still, and the ground feels like it's moving beneath his feet. It's a side-effect of spending long lengths of time at sea that Ace has grown pretty used to. Moving silently through the trees, the fourteen (near fifteen) year old glances down at his hands, still taken aback slightly by their soft callouses and thick, sailor-birthed tan. Do Sabo's hands look like his do now? Do Luffy's, even?

Breaking out of the treeline after a few minutes of walking, Ace emerges onto a wide, grassy field. At first glance it's empty, but Ace clings to the shadows nonetheless, instinct driving him to be wary of this place. Walking on, the teen soon emerges into what looks like a town – white, clinical-looking buildings stand in rows just beyond a long barbed-wire fence. Just as Ace is contemplating how he's supposed to get over, a man with auburn hair emerges from the treeline a few metres over and shoots Ace a look of abject horror.

"What the hell are you doing there?! Get away, that's the quarantined area!" The man darts forward and pulls Ace away from the fence, not stopping until they're a good fifty metres away, before rounding on him with a glare. "Why did you get so close? You know that there are regulations to stop-"

Suddenly, the man notices the bird on Ace's head. He does a double-take, before looking Ace up and down, taking in his ragged appearance with wide eyes.

Abruptly bursting into laughter, the strange man slings an arm around Ace's shoulder. "Maaah, sorry about that! I didn't realise that you were new. I'm Thatch!"

"I-I'm Ace," Ace stutters. There are a thousand questions flying through his mind. Eventually, he settles on, "There's a quarantine area?"

"Oh, yeah. Well on an island near here there's a bit of an epidemic going around." As the man talks, he pulls Ace through the forest, arm still around his shoulders. "We didn't think it was a big deal 'till people started dying, so we jumped in and got everybody off the island and now we're trying to heal them."

"Wait, seriously?" Not even Blackbeard, not even the government, would do something like that. They'd leave the islanders to die. "You're helping them?"

Thatch shoots him a strange look. "Of course we are. Where're you from, kid?"

Ace lowers his head slightly. "Edgetown, in the east." He can hear Thatch's sharp intake of breath clearly.

"There were no survivors…" The man sounds more curious than mistrusting. "At least, that's what we were told. How did you get out?"

A familiar mistrust paws at Ace's heart but he pushes it down. He's been holding everything in for too long. If this man is a part of the force he's planning to join, then he has to trust him with at least this. "The military mistook my little brother for a criminal and took him away about a year ago. Me and my other brother left to try to find him – he joined the military undercover to try and find him, and I travelled north to find- well, you guys, I guess. A few months later, Edgetown was gone."

"Must've been tough," Thatch observes. There's no pity in his voice, just empathy. It's strangely refreshing. "How old are you, kid?"

"Nearly fifteen," answers Ace, wincing at how juvenile he sounds. "Do you accept people so young?"

Thatch starts. "Wait, you actually want to _join?!"_

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Ace says, "Of course I do. Why else would I have come?"

"To get our help?" Thatch frowns. "There's no official age limit, but you are really young… Let's just see what Marco says, okay?"

"Marco?" Ace stumbles over a root and lurches forward, Pidge falling into his arms with a small squawk. Resituating him on his shoulder, Ace runs to catch up with Thatch, who is waiting a few feet ahead. Now that he has time to properly look at the man, Ace can see that he's wearing an outfit not dissimilar to that of a chef, and his auburn hair is styled into a ridiculous, though slightly impressive, pompadour. He has the overall look of a friendly, if slightly childish, man in his late twenties or early thirties. If he was a little older, maybe Ace would have his reservations (Ace has never really trusted the older ones), but Thatch is probably only ten years or so out of his teens himself, so Ace doesn't feel so on-edge.

"He's one of our Gift users. Technically my superior, but let's ignore that. He's officially second-in-command of this whole joint, but let's ignore that too. He's just a pineapple to us," Thatch rambles. "That bird you've got there is one of his."

"He's a bird Zoan?" Ace asks, footsteps starting to steady on the uneven ground.

"Phoenix, to be exact," corrects Thatch absentmindedly. "We're here." A few seconds later, he and Ace emerge from the treeline and the teen suddenly wishes that he had five more pairs of eyes just to take everything in.

A sea of vibrant, smiling people line the street. Most of them have hair the colour of autumn leaves, as is usual in the North, but Ace can see a good few blondes and a couple with every hair colour in between. Down the street, a group of older teens wearing distinctive leather-collared jackets with the Revolutionary insignia covering the pockets wave to Thatch merrily, shooting Ace curious looks. Thatch pauses to talk to everybody he passes, seeming to know every person on the whole island, and at least three or four people shoot Ace strange looks when they notice Pidge on his shoulder. Ace guesses that it's because they know that he's been lead here by the small bird, and they're wondering what prompted him to seek them out in the first place.

The shops that line the pedestrianized road are lively and bustling, and the revolutionary flag is everywhere – it flies from windows and people wear badges holding the crest proudly. Unlike what Ace has seen the government do, however, these people don't look forced. They wear the mark so proudly that it becomes a part of who they are, something that everybody wears. It binds them together as on unstoppable unit and Ace finds that he's eager to start wearing that mark too.

Sadly, as soon as the street appeared, it's gone. Thatch tugs Ace through the crowds and into a sidestreet, before pulling him through sheltered alleys and down quiet walkways. Soon, they arrive at a large, homely looking building that's honestly far from what Ace would have expected from the headquarters of the Revolutionary Army. It looks more like a huge, well-loved inn than the central powerhouse of an international crime syndicate.

Thatch bypasses the two guards at the large double-doors with a cheeky grin and a wink, letting his arm reacquaint itself with Ace's shoulders again, and they roll their eyes at him. When they enter and Ace's eyes adjust to the gloom, they go wide, trying to take in even more than before. The entrance room has a huge domed ceiling, which is strung with the most haphazard-looking, scruffy decorations Ace has ever seen. Cloths are draped across the walls, flags from countries and cities and tribes from all over the world, and one wall to their right in dedicated entirely to row after row after row of wanted posters.

There are dozens of tables dotted around, ranging from half a foot off the floor, to high up and surrounded by stools, to round and smothered in maps and papers. The room has a strange mix of a 'hard work' vibe and a 'fuck off, I'm going to sleep' vibe. On half of the tables, men and women laugh and eat merrily, singing and draping themselves over the mismatched furniture. On the other half, Revolutionaries slave over maps and complicated-looking diagrams. It's a mash of feelings and hyperactivity and Ace loves it.

"Like it?" Thatch asks, amused, and Ace realises that he's been staring around for at least a few minutes.

Blushing, the boy says, "Yeah. These are your headquarters?"

"Mm-hm." Ushering Ace through the maze of tables, Thatch starts to lead the fourteen-year old towards a door at the back of the room. "It's a little manic, but you get used to it. We have an outpost base in the west that's ten times more crazy than this."

Shuddering at the thought (Ac e can't imagine anything crazier than this), the black-haired boy allows himself to be pulled along, accidentally bumping into a man arm-wrestling with a redheaded woman as he passes. Hurrying an apology, Ace is shocked – not unpleasantly so – when the man waves him off with a tipsy grin and says, "No problem, kid." The people are so _laid back_ it should be illegal.

Reaching the doors, Ace finds that the world beyond them is yet again different from the entrance room. Thatch leads him down a long, cold corridor, the nearly worn-away soles of Ace's shoes letting the cold seep into his feet. He shivers, but the walk doesn't last long; soon, the pair stop outside an unassuming-looking door and Thatch knocks out a little tune on the wood. "Marco? _Monsieur Pina-pelle_? You alive?"

"Come in," floats a tired voice from inside the room. Thatch pushes open the door, shoving Ace inside, and the boy is met with the sight of a tall, muscular blond with very blue eyes, looking immensely exhausted and half-buried under paperwork. Upon catching sight of Ace, he raises an eyebrow. "Thatch, yoi. Who is this?"

"This is Ace." The redhead gestures to the phoenix on Ace's shoulder. "As you can probably tell, he wanted to come find us." A meaningful look, that Ace doesn't miss. "As in, come find us and join us."

Marco considers Ace for a second, before waving Thatch out of the room with a flick of his wrist. Motioning for Ace to sit at the other side of his desk, Marco folds his hands under his chin and looks the teen up and down. Ace suddenly has the disconcerting feeling that he's being x-rayed.

"Where are you from, kid?" That seems to be a common question here. These are people who don't shy away from everything to do with the past.

Ace meets his eyes, feeling his apprehension slip away. "Edgetown, in the east," he says carefully.

If Marco is at all surprised, he doesn't show it. "Interesting," he says mildly. "Why do you want to become a revolutionary, Ace, yoi?"

"So I can change the system that took my brothers from me, and save my sea of origin," Ace says after a moment of thinking. "So I can _change_ things."

Marco continues to look at him but for a second, it's like he's seeing a different person. Eventually, he says, "That's quite a dream, yoi. Alright, kid, sure. But first-" He cuts Ace off. "Infirmary. The nurses are going to have a fit; you're half-starved."

Thanking Marco hurriedly, Ace allows himself to be lead down a few more corridors, still barely able to believe that this is actually happening. He's a revolutionary. He's done it. Sabo is cheering madly from the other end of the bond, praising Marco to high heaven, but Ace just feels numb. Slowly, a smile spreads across his face.

"Thanks, Marco," he mutters. Even though it's just under his breath, he has a feeling that Marco can hear him.

The nurses do indeed have a fit when they arrive, pushing Ace into a bed and shoving ten types of test and injection onto him at once. Naturally, his body isn't in the best state right now. It's been a long, long year, and Ace has never lived in much comfort anyway. The accumulated stress has made him far weaker and far more brittle than Ace would like – but the nurses are kind, and they don't seem to pin anything on him at all.

Marco stays there throughout the checkup, even when the nurses tell him he can leave. There's something about him – Ace doesn't know what – that makes him seem both comforting and intimidating at the same time. Ace hasn't even seen him fight and he knows; he wants to be stronger than this man. For now, though, he'll settle for allowing the revolutionary medical staff to fuss over him and prod him and stuff food down his throat.

Sabo is still ecstatic. _What's it like there? Have you met the leader?! Who_ -

 _Slow down, Sabo! No, I haven't met the leader, and as for how it is…_ Ace struggles to find the right words. _It's insane. Completely insane. Everybody here is insane._

 _And you love it?_ Sabo guesses.

 _And I love it,_ Ace repeats.

* * *

"So, how's the new kid?"

Ace holds his breath from his hiding spot, trying hard not to make a sound. They're talking about him. It's been a few hours since he arrived and even though the nurses have him down for full bed rest, he couldn't help but sneak out after darkness fell and creep into the first room again. Now he's hiding in a gap between the wall and a table, listening in on the conversation at the table where Marco, Thatch and a couple of others are having a conversation. Pidge is curled up into a ball on the floor beside him.

The teen listens hard, straining his ears, and hears Marco give a sigh. The conversation around the table quietens slightly.

"He's scared, yoi. I mean, he was damn strong to get all the way here on his own – but at the end of the day, the kid's fourteen years old. He's mistrustful to the n'th degree and he's from the East, so he's probably seen some-"

"Wait, he's from the East?" Another voice chips in, male and friendly. He sounds…concerned? "Seriously? He followed one of your birds all the way from the East on his own?" A pause. Then, the man gives a low whistle. "Damn. That's some serious determination."

Another voice chips in, with a soothing accent that makes Ace subconsciously relax. "Still – if he's from there, it's no wonder he'd want to join us."

There's a dark silence, and Ace closes his eyes, not quite sure what to think. It's only starting to hit him now just how hard the last few months have been on his body. A year ago, he wouldn't have been able to fit into this alcove – damn; he _has_ lost quite a bit of weight now that he thinks about it (the nurses were right). As well as that, his black hair is slightly sun-bleached from a year of travelling with virtually no shelter, and it's rough to the touch. He really does look like shit.

"So are you letting him join? Did'ja ask him the question?" This voice is older and deeper, with a distinctive lilt.

"Yeah, I did, yoi. He said it's 'cause he wants so take down the system that took his brothers, and save the Eastern Seas. Pretty ambitious brat, isn't he?"

"Ah, I actually know the story behind that," Thatch speaks up. "He had to separate from his brothers because one got taken by the government, and now the other one is going undercover in the marines down south. Ace doesn't know for sure that the youngest one is dead, but…" He trails off.

"He probably is," Marco finishes. Something stabs at Ace's heart at the dull confirmation, but he tries to ignore it in favour of listening on. "Well, that doesn't sound like the best childhood in the world, yoi. Which island is he from?"

Thatch whispers something which Ace can't make out, and Marco sighs heavily. The mood at the table has suddenly gotten a lot more sombre. "I see, yoi," says Marco quietly.

Somebody yawns, breaking the tense atmosphere, and says, "I'm gonna conk. Night, all." A chair scrapes back from the table, then another as somebody else leaves, and soon only Marco and a man in a kimono remain.

"You're stressed," the other man observes.

Marco sighs, slumping slightly across the table. "Things aren't getting any easier over this end. You know what the government are resorting to. If they're bombing the East just to get it out of Teach's hands, the same is due to happen to this place too. They hate us far, far more than they hate him, yoi." The man drops his head into his hands, running his fingers through his strangely styled hair. "It's at times like these that I remember why we're fighting them. When we have kids asking to join a war to get back their families, half-starved kids who had their homes blown up and their brothers killed. What the hell did Ace even do to deserve that, yoi?"

"Don't get too attached, Marco," the other says quietly. "He's only a kid. Even if he does remind you of yourself."

Marco gives a heavy sigh, looking younger than he is for a minute, before he stands and rubs his tired eyes. "I'm going to check on the kid, then head to bed," he announces. "See you, Izo."

Realising that he has to get back to the infirmary before Marco gets there, Ace takes off, hoping that the man loiters. His mind spins with new information and one thing is clear; he isn't the only one with secrets.

* * *

Ace has only just thrown himself under the covers and rolled over when the door to the infirmary opens behind him and somebody steps in, stealthy on silent feet. _Marco_. The man sits in the chair beside Ace's bed, on the side opposite the direction he's facing, and is silent for a good few minutes. Ace feels his eyes starting to droop and closes them for a few seconds, but when he opens them again, the clock has moved forward by just under an hour and Marco is talking.

"-about fourteen, yeah, Oyaji. I mean, he's tuckered out right now, but he must have been strong to get here at all. Something tells me he's marked, too, yoi."

"What makes you think that?" The deep, rumbling voice is slightly muffled, as if it's being played from a recording.

"Well, for one thing, he refuses to take his scarf off. Sort of like I used to when I first met you guys. He's just secretive all-round, really."

There's a pause, before the older man says, "Is there anything else?"

"Well, there is one thing… He summoned one of my daemons while he was travelling, and you know I always despawn them once the people they brought arrive?" The older man gives a noise of agreement. "Well, this one refuses to despawn. And I have no idea why. It seems really attached to him."

A hum rumbles through the room. "Just leave it there for now, and see what happens. We at least want our newest member to have _somebody_ to trust, and if your daemon is a friend to him, then that's good enough."

"Thanks, dad," says Marco quietly, before there's a click and the sound of crackling recording goes silent. Closing his eyes and continuing to pretend to sleep, Ace lets himself slip back into his thoughts. He has a full stomach for the first time in weeks, bandages that aren't stolen and aren't full of infection, and his sun-bleached hair has been scrubbed with real freshwater instead of coarse, salty seawater. It's still hard to believe that any of this is real.

Marco stands and stretches, and Ace thinks for a second that he's going to leave. All he does is wander over to the window, however, humming a tuneless melody in the back of his throat. Peaking at him out of squinted eyes, it suddenly hits Ace just who Marco reminds him of so much. Wavy blonde hair, lightly tanned skin, startlingly blue eyes. _Sabo_. He must be a westerner too.

On the bed beside him, Pidge shivers and burrows himself deeper into Ace's side. Smiling slightly, Ace wraps his arms around the bird and pulls the covers over his head. Marco was right. At least he does have a friend.

When Ace wakes next, it's to terror and panicked breaths. Nightmare. The people of Loguetown are burning around him, blistering and turning into screeching monstrosities that claw at his legs with the voices of children, and when Ace tries to get away, the arms of the men from Kaira hold him down and tear at his skin. Then, he's tangled in his blankets and panting, a scream on his lips that never escapes. It's still dark outside.

Marco jerks awake, disorientated for a second before he catches sight of Ace and jumps into action. "Where does it hurt?" He moves with calculated, careful movements, acting like Ace is a wild animal that he doesn't want to startle.

"Just a nightmare," Ace gasps, "I'm fine. I'm fine." His heartbeat refuses to calm, and images still flash before his eyes.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Marco grabs Ace's wrist lightly and applies a little pressure with his nail. The light pain is enough to focus Ace's mind, and he breathes along with Marco to help calm himself. In. Out. In. Out. He's okay. He's okay.

"You okay?" Marco asks quietly.

"I saw Loguetown," Ace says in a rush. "I tried to get the people out, I did, but there were too many of them and I managed to grab onto the pier but they all- Marco…!"

"You're here, in revolutionary headquarters. You made it." Marco keeps his voice perfectly level, arms slightly open just in case Ace feels the need for that kind of comfort but not pushing anything. Ace wonders, in a passing thought, if this is what it's like to have an older brother. "All of that is over now. It's over."

With a strangled gasp, Ace throws himself at Marco. On any other day, in any other circumstance, he wouldn't be caught dead sobbing all over a complete stranger. Portgas D. Ace is self-reliant. He comforts his brothers. He takes care of himself. But with the images still flashing through his mind, Ace finds that he can't make himself do anything else. Marco returns the hug warmly, arms wrapping around Ace firmly, and Pidge squeezes his way in between them to nestle Ace's stomach.

When Ace's sobs tail out, Marco waits for him to pull away. Face flushed, shouting at himself internally for being such a baby, Ace wipes his eyes. "Sorry about that," he mutters.

"No problem," replies Marco calmly, "You're not the only one who gets nightmares. I'm the commander of the whole Revolutionary Army. It's my job to take care of everybody here, and that includes you. Until you're healed up and you start training, would you like me to stay here?" He speaks in a business-like tone, as if this is no big deal and it's just a part of his job, and Ace is infinitely thankful.

The teen wants to say no but his mouth forms a 'yes' before he can stop it.

Marco nods in approval, shooting Ace one of the only smiles he's seen on his face that isn't a smirk. "Then I will. Now, how about you try to get a bit more sleep? Me and your friend," -he points to Pidge- "Will both be here when you wake up."

Nodding, Ace rolls over and scrubs his hand over his face again. Once he starts training, Ace can't let himself be weak; for now, though, he has a compassionate stranger who's willing to take his weakness without complaint. It isn't so bad, after all, to be a child for a while.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! As always, reviews are appreciated and Ily**

 **Review repliesss!**

 **Guest who said it was cool that I brought back Law: thanks! And yep, it was obviously going to. I just love hurting my freckley kid**

 **zoewinter1: yep, pretty ironic :P and im sorry about the argument! It wont happen again (much) in the future, I promise. And thank you for reviewing! They keep me going :D**


	11. 1-11 - Chips for Breakfast

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **sorry this took so long to update! Been busy. Review replies are at the end. Also, yes leo is an OC, no he doesn't stick around for very long. If you can't deal with that, you can't deal with that.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11 – Chips for Breakfast**

* * *

The revolutionary medics let Ace out after a week, and through that week, Marco stays near his bedside without complaint. It isn't nearly as awkward as Ace had expected it to be. Marco mostly reads, or makes quiet conversation, and he never acts like he's being forced to stay here at all. More and more frequently, Ace asks himself if this is what Luffy felt like, having an older brother who looked after him without complaint and without agitation.

But the week comes to an end, and Ace walks out of the infirmary marvelling at how much healthier he looks. His skin, once pulled taut over his bony wrists and knees, has a new healthy colour, and he low looks gangly and not just plain emaciated. His hair is still sun-bleached, his scalp browning and lightening, but he's been told that it'll fade and, to be completely honest, he doesn't particularly care. There's a scar on his hip and one on the sole of his foot, as well as the burn scar on his chin, but apart from that, his skin is unblemished and back to its healthy tan.

Ace emerges from the white-walled prison on a Saturday morning, and Marco tells him that he'll be joining a group of trainees first thing on Monday. Ace can't wait but for now, he can settle for Marco's offer to introduce him to the other commanders, and teach him about the hierarchy of the Revolutionary Army that he hopes to climb. Being lead down the corridor with Marco walking unobtrusively to his side, the teen feels excitement curling in his stomach. He's going to be the youngest recruit in the group by four years, but he'll smash them into the floor.

As they walk through the door into the manic front room again Ace finds that, again, it's bursting with activity. Sun filters through the messily arranged windows above, spanning across the wide ceiling, and it covers the floor with patches of light. Before Ace can fully take it in, his self-appointed caretaker steers him over to the table where he listened in a week ago. There are three people sitting at it – the man in the kimono, who gives Ace an elegant smile, a man with a moustache who seems to be polishing a very long, deadly-looking sword, and a girl with wavy, light blue hair who looks like she's about to fall asleep on the table.

"Morning, yoi." Ushering Ace into a high stool, Marco sits down and stretches. The man in the kimono reaches out to shake Ace's hand, and the black-haired boy takes it before he realises what he's doing.

"I'm Izo," the older revolutionary says, not unkindly. "You're Ace?"

Ace nods. "Y-Yeah," he manages to force out, suddenly feeling like if he says something wrong he'll get shot in the face.

"We've heard a lot about you!" Suddenly Thatch is there, dunking his back with a grin. "From Marco, I mean. He's a sap. Completely and utter sap, I swear- Argh!"

Withdrawing his foot from where he lashed out at his subordinate at the speed of light, Marco yawns, raising an eyebrow. "What am I?"

"A strong revolutionary, my boss," Thatch mutters, peeling his face off the floor where Marco kicked him. "Sorry Marc'."

"It's Marco, yoi." Rolling his eyes fondly, the Gift user turns to Ace. "This is Izo, Vista and Bay. They're all commanders, except for Bay, who is the commander of the civilian branch of the Revolutionary Army." All three wave, Bay looking like she's trying to become one with the table.

"Hi," Ace says, voice stronger now. They aren't all quite as invincible or… _Cool_ as he thought they would be. In fact, they seem like normal people. If Ace couldn't see the guns holstered under Izo's skirts, or the huge sword in Vista's hands and Marco's strong, nimble limbs, he would think that was the case.

Thatch disappears into a door to the left for a few minutes and while he's gone, Marco and the other revolutionaries make small talk. The sun continues to rise, and the thick smell of coffee and whiskey fills the room. Soon, Thatch returns balancing trays of food and grinning widely. He's armed with a spatula that he swipes at Marco with, missing pathetically, and he drops a plate in front of Ace with a grin. It's piled high with some kind of weird fried sticks, covered in a brownish sauce.

To his side, Marco tucks into something Ace thinks is eggs (maybe?) and Ace mutters, "Sorry, but what is this?"

Thatch stares. "Those are chips. You know, fries?" Staring blankly, Ace shrugs, and Thatch grabs him by the shoulders. "THE POOR BABY DOESN'T KNOW WHAT FRIES ARE!"

"Cut it out, Thatch, yoi!" Marco snaps without any real bite, as the other man starts to ruffle Ace's hair almost violently. "You might as well let him try some if you care so much about it."

The next few minutes consist of Thatch therapeutically feeding Ace fries, which really don't taste too bad, actually. Marco and the auburn-haired chef exchange casual banter, jibing at each other about everything and nothing, and the activity in the hall soon picks up. Ace gets a few more curious looks – he figures it's because he's new, and he's sitting with the second in command and a handful of commanders – but aside from that, it's pretty enjoyable.

Once Thatch has deemed Ace to have eaten enough, Marco pulls the teen off to take him around the island. Ace learns early on that the Revolutionary Army doesn't have a hierarchy quite as complex as the navy has. You start off as a division member, going on different missions or helping with rebuilding and recovery, before rising to vice commander, then commander. There are only three ranks, but less than forty people have risen above division member. Marco is commander of the first division, while Thatch commands the fourth, Vista the fifth and Izo the sixteenth.

"I bet I can make it to vice commander in a year," Ace says confidently, drawing only a raised eyebrow from his companion.

"Oh really?" remarks the blonde. "Reckon you're strong enough?"

"You haven't seen me fight," Ace replies cheekily.

Though the island is cold, Ace finds the tangible energy in the streets addictive, and spends most of the day exploring while Marco goes back to the base to catch up on work. Ace sticks to rooftops, as he's used to, and when people catch sight of him they don't yell, they wave and one woman yells to be careful. Does everybody here act like this? Is this how normal people are meant to act, and is Ace just unused to everyday customs? Ace supposes that he'll find out.

The evening is just as eventful as breakfast. Apparently it's the anniversary of something or other – Ace doesn't really pay attention – and the whole island lights up with fireworks as soon as night falls. The dark-haired teen hangs back as the music starts, sitting in the shadows as figures dance and sing around the large bonfire and content to just soak up the atmosphere alone, before somebody tugs him to his feet and pulls him to dance with them in the fire's golden glow. Feet stirring up dust, Ace lets himself be whirled from person to person in a wild mess of bodies.

Luckily, Marco rescues him with a laugh before he can panic. Letting the older man lead him to a quieter spot, Ace glances around. The smell of grilled onions is slowly filling the air, and a few feet away, Thatch is tapping his feet absentmindedly in front of a barbeque. Sitting down on a log near Marco, Ace watches as the party picks up on the other side of the clearing, joyous cheering filling the air. The boy tries to imagine what a party like this would look like in Edgetown. Maybe he can-

Fire, smoke. A body of fire hovering on the page of a newspaper, whispers. _Temper tantrum._

"Ace, yoi?"

Ace flinches violently, staring up at Marco in shock. After a second or two, he manages to pull himself together. "Sorry, I was thinking."

"You look tired, yoi. Should we head back to headquarters?" Marco says quietly.

"Don't you want to stay at the party?" After the sudden onslaught of sour memories, Ace's skin is crawling and his mind feels tainted. All he wants to do is sleep, and hope that Edgetown doesn't waltz into his dreams. He can feel Sabo's muted concern, but the blonde seems too exhausted from training to be able to focus on anything, really.

"These things happen all the time, yoi. I'm not even sure what we're celebrating, to be honest. Standing, Marco stretches and before Ace can open his mouth, before his sluggish mind can begin to process what's going on, the blonde man swings him up onto his back. Letting out a small yelp of alarm, Ace wraps his arms tightly around Marco's neck to keep from falling off, blushing deeply. Waving goodbye to Thatch, the older Revolutionary starts off into the darkness, breathing steady against Ace's front.

There are a few minutes of comfortable silence before the man says, "Want to talk about it, yoi?"

Ace shakes his head into the back of Marco's shirt. "All of this happiness, how good things are here… I just wish Edgetown had gotten a chance to see something like this. This place is the complete opposite of that."

"How so?" asks Marco, seeming genuinely curious.

"I mean, in Edgetown, you only ever cared about yourself. I remember when I was three or four, one of the Hyumangoddo came to inspect the island and crushed one of his slaves right there in the street. Nobody took care of his body for days; he just lay there and lay there until god knows when." Ace's voice is muffled, arms looped over Marco's shoulders lightly. "Once Blackbeard took over, things got even worse. I mean, my brother was Marked, so us three lived in a trash heap outside of the city for four years – it sounds crazy now that I say it, huh?"

"Completely," Marco murmurs absentmindedly. "Have you had any contact with either of your brothers since you left Edgetown, yoi?"

Ace hesitates. "No, not really," he answers eventually. Marco probably knows that there's something more, but doesn't push. The conversation tails off into silence for a few minutes, before Ace mutters sleepily, "You know I saved this one village?"

"Oh yeah, yoi?"

"Yeah. It was this place called Kaira in the north-east, and I helped start a revolution. I didn't really s _ave them_ save them, but they all acted that way after." Ace can feel his eyes drooping, and smiles. "I don't want anywhere else to burn, Marco."

"I know, yoi." Marco sounds impossibly sad for a moment. "Go to sleep. Nothing else is going to burn."

Warmed by both Marco's body against his own and his words, Ace lets himself fall into the darkness, and the world dissolves.

* * *

The next morning, the day before Ace formally begins his training, the teen walks in on a world of hangovers and tired eyes that is the mess hall. Apparently, last night was as wild as it was enjoyable. Thatch, in a similar manner to Bay yesterday, looks like he's trying to melt into the table. Only Marco looks as unruffled as always, pushing a glass of water and some toast across to Ace without looking up from his paper when the boy sits down. Pidge flops into the seat next to him.

"Sleep well, yoi?"

Rubbing sleep out of his eyes, Ace yawns contentedly. "Yeah. I can't wait to start training tomorrow. I'm gonna kick their asses!"

Thatch raises his head slightly, exchanging a look with Marco. "Ain't he adorable?"

"Yep," Marco teases lightly, sipping a mug of black coffee. At Ace's betrayed look, he rolls his eyes and reaches across the ruffle his wayward black hair. "I was just kidding, yoi. I'm sure you'll do great."

"Sure, sure." Feeling Sabo wake up from across the bond, Ace tunes out the sound of conversation around him to check in on his brother. _About time, sleeping beauty._

 _Shut uppp._ Sabo sounds like death warmed up. _What happened last night…?_

 _Don't ask me, I'm on the other side of the world,_ Ace jokes, half-serious. _What did you do last night?_

 _Some of the guys in my group of trainees were passing around a bottle and I think… Did I get drunk?!_ A horrified pause, before Sabo sighs in relief and says, _No, one of them cracked the bottle over the back of my head. I might be a little bit concussed._

 _How is that any better than getting drunk?!_

 ** _Anything's_** _better than getting drunk._ Sabo groans, and a surge of pain slips along the bond unheeded. _Ow._

 _Get a doctor, will you?_

 _Nah. Gotta train._ Sabo closes off the bond from his end, muttering something about getting stronger, and Ace lets worry consume him for a few seconds before realising that Marco is calling his name, and has been for a good few minutes.

"Sorry, what?" Ace jerks his head up.

"I asked if you wanted to come with me and Thatch to swim with a couple of the division members, yoi?" Marco stays patient, even though it's obvious that Ace zoned out.

"Sure, I guess." Ace stretches. "When?"

"We usually leave to go to the south of the island by lunchtime." Thatch gives a tired, pained grin; but it's a grin nonetheless. "Fair warning – it's freezing."

A few hours later, Ace decides resolutely that Thatch wasn't fucking around when he said that it was freezing. Marco doesn't seem to have a problem with it, swimming lap after lap in the large lagoon, but tends to stick to shallower waters for reasons unknown. Most of the division members seem to be close to getting terminal frostbite, and Ace, used to the warm waters of the southern east, feels like his skin is going to freeze off.

Still, the water is refreshing if nothing else. Ace improves his technique a little, pumping his arms until they burn pleasantly in their sockets, and they leave feeling cold but well exercised. Ace clambers onto Marco's back again on the way back, and though the others tease Marco for being a sap, neither Ace nor his companion particularly care. It's all in good humour, after all.

After they're back and dried off, the nurses pull Ace back to the infirmary for a few minutes just to check with him that he's eating enough of the right stuff, and he's happy to find that he's starting to recover. None of the medics are all that happy about his scars – he counted them the other day, and there are a lot more than Ace thought – but there's nothing to be done about that. As well as the ones on Ace's chin, foot and hip, several speckle his shins from an unfortunate meeting with the edge of a cliff three or four months ago, and there are a few faint white blemishes from Ace's years living rough, but things could be far worse.

On the last night before he starts training and moves to the barracks, Ace sleeps on a blow-up mattress on the floor of Marco's room, and when the nightmares come – and they do come, without a doubt, because when don't they? – the man is there to convince Ace that he's still alive, that the fire at Loguetown didn't take him too, that Vivi isn't pouring dirt onto his grave. None of Ace's dreams make sense anymore; but when did they in the first place?

Early the next morning, after a night filled with light conversation and not much sleep, Marco leads Ace to the barracks and drops him off with a reassurance; he'll always be there if Ace needs him, and he'll be fine. Ace will be fine. He's fine. He's fine.

"Of course I'm fine." Ace grins, regaining some gusto, and turns to face the wooden cabin with a determined grin. Pidge is perched on his head, strangely energetic considering how early it is. "See you, Marco." When he marches up to the door, Ace doesn't look back.

Inside, there are seven or eight boys from about eighteen to twenty sleeping in bunk beds perpendicular to each other. It's still too early for training to start, so Ace flops down on an empty bed and stares up at the ceiling, waiting for the rude awakening he knows is on the way. "I'll definitely make it in a year, Marco," he whispers into the dark, and gives a very wide, very real grin.

* * *

"And Portgas takes the victory again!"

Lurching backward and sweeping sweaty hair out of his eyes, Ace raises his fists as his opponent, one of the other trainees, crashes to the ground. His legs are shaking with exhaustion, arms burning, but he _won_. He's winning a lot nowadays. It's been three weeks since training started, and it's taken long nights of sneaking out of the barracks to train in private and longer days of gruelling training, but Ace is close to the top of his class.

Scowling, his previous opponent – a dark-haired man with pale skin and biceps for days – stumbles to his feet and limps off, nursing his right leg. Ace cups his rapidly forming black eye and walks lopsidedly over to the benches, collapsing onto his seat beside Pidge and watching as the next spar starts. There's a completely logical explanation for why he's excelling, Ace realises with a jolt as he watches the older teens spring into action. These people have grown up in the north, where they've never really had to fight for their lives before. They lack the street smarts, the ingrained instincts, that Ace has honed throughout his life.

The blonde man sweeps his leg into a roundhouse kick but he's obviously not thinking fast enough; he's dwelling on aim too much when it should be a point-blank, so he's close to losing his balance and his kick lacks force. The other man is a marginally better fighter, if for nothing more than age, but even he has a stance that puts too much attention on brute strength and not on the ability to get the hell out of the way if shit hits the fan. These people might survive sparring sessions, but there's no way they could survive out in the east.

Shaking himself out of thoughts that are growing progressively darker, Ace wipes some sweat off his face and leans back, closing his eyes against the midday sun. Just as he can feel consciousness slipping out of his iron grip, however-

"Teach me how to fight."

Ace starts, staring around wildly before his eyes land on the older teen he beat only a few minutes ago. He raises an eyebrow, trying to look nonchalant. "Why?"

"Because you're half my age, and you knocked me flat on my ass! Everybody keeps saying you're from the east. How are you so much stronger than most of us?" The dusty-haired man looks desperate.

Ace's eyebrow stretches higher. "I'm not _that_ good."

The man lowers his voice. "A lot of people are even saying that you're the second-in-command's son."

Ace chokes out a gasp. "What the hell?! No! Why?!"

"Well, you do have one of his weird bird things with you all the time." From Ace's side, the 'weird bird thing' gives an indignant squawk. "And you sneak out to see him every night."

"You know about that?" Ace shifts uncomfortably.

"You're a good fighter, just not good at sneaking out." The other man gives a small grin, and extends his hand. "So, will you help me?"

Sighing, Ace glances around. While the rest of the fights go down, he will be bored for the next few hours… "Alright, fine. But if you suck then I'm not going to try."

"That's the spirit," the other man mutters with a sigh.

* * *

Ace feels his head snap back as another punch powers into his jaw, making his head spin. Finally - an opponent who can hold his own. Not letting the darkness filling his vision sway him, the teen darts forward and moves to sweep his new opponent's legs out from under him – he stumbles, but regains his balance and ducks around Ace to take a swing at his back. Ace feints lunching forward before spinning back around and swinging his foot into his opponent's stomach with a sickening crunch.

The man, one of the trainees from the other barracks, allows Ace to pull him to his feet with an approving smirk. "You're good."

"You too." Ace, four weeks into his training now, extends his hand. "I'm Portgas D. Ace. It's good to meet you."

The light of sunset on his face, the other man shakes his hand firmly. "Leo. How long have you been training?"

"Four weeks, but I've been fighting my whole life." Ace stretches, massaging his jaw. Leo can pull a mean punch.

"Likewise, cousin."

Ace flinches at the very familiar term. "East?"

Sweeping ebony hair out of his eyes, Leo raises an eyebrow. "Yep. You?"

"Same… Which island are you from?"

"Conomi Island," the man says flatly, taking the offered seat beside Ace and wiping his forehead. He looks about nineteen, with black hair falling messily into his dark eyes, and he wears the same leather-collared jacket that Ace and all the other trainees were given on their first day.

Ace winces. Conomi was blown up a week and a half ago. "Damn, I'm sorry."

Leo waves him off. "Got nobody there to mourn for. What about you?"

"Edgetown." This time, no words are needed. Leo doesn't give him a pitying look, but it isn't scornful either.

After a few minutes of silence, Leo stands and stretches. "I've gotta get back to my barracks. But it was nice meeting you. Reckon we can spar again sometime?"

Ace stands, clicking the bones in his fingers that have gotten stiff over the hours. "Sure. You're one of the only trainees who can actually _fight_."

Leo gives what Ace knows is probably a rare laugh. "Heh. I could say the same thing to you." Turning on his heel, the older teen says, "See you."

"Yeah, bye." Making his way back to his own barracks in the darkness, Ace yawns and considers the last few weeks. They certainly have been… Eventful, at the very least. The Revolutionary Army is churning out recruits at a rate that Ace marvels at, and he hopes to make it to the rank of division member as quickly as he can in order to rise to vice commander by this time next year. He's the top of his class at hand-to-hand combat, relatively high up in knife and dagger handling and failing miserably at swordplay and marksmanship. Still, he's defending champion despite his failings in certain areas.

A few hours later, Ace finds himself stumbling back out of the barracks, hugging his arms to his chest and trying desperately not to shake. These nightmares are pushing him to the end of his tether. This time, though, he can't go to Marco. Ace can't grow dependent on him. He can't grow dependent on anybody.

 _Sabo?_ Ace tries, leaning against the outer wall of the wooden cabin. _Sab, please._

There's no answer. The other fourteen-year old – no, Ace realises with a start, fifteen now – is dead asleep. Ace is completely alone.

As he calms his breathing, back pressed against the cold wood of the barracks, Ace wipes his watering eyes and vows not to do this again. That's that. That's all. There's no time for crying when you're a revolutionary, much less when you have two brothers to take care of. He needs to bury this, shove it down deep enough so that he can't see it anymore. Let it burn with the same flames he burns his enemies with.

Ace doesn't know it, but this is the last nightmare he's going to have for four years. When he does have one again, there will be no Sabo there to call to at all. For now, though, he can tell this blonde brother that he slept fine and get up in the morning without fear, throw himself into his training with reckless abandon and rise to the top.

He's Portgas D. Ace, and he's going to make it.

* * *

 **review replies!**

 **Jess: ahh yess! I was cheering him on too, our baby has a will of steel and made it. And thatch! Adorable, lovable dork. He was obviously able to make Ace feel a bit more comfortable just by acting like an idiot. It's like his superpower. And that was a little sad, huh? But I'm glad you found it heartwarming too! And Pidge isn't going anywhere anytime soon ;) Anyway, thanks for reviewing, I hope the next few chapters live up to your expectations!**

 **UnderTakerxXxMadnesS: ohh gosh sorry, but this is the Ace!Centric part of the story. Sabo's part comes in in quite a while, but he is still a really big part of the story, so please stay tuned until then? *whispers* sorry**

 **Vertschl: that was just a result of my being tired and stupid :P and I fixed it now. I'm glad you loved it! And yes, Shanks does come back in and it's fucking heartbreaking**

 **zoewinter1: I succeeded in melting your heart yay! And im so glad you liked it! *clutches heart* your reviews make me cry thank you fren**

 **Friendly Reader: *bows* a friendly reader has visited my fic…im so honoured…. And im so glad you liked it! Yeah, I did fuck with canon a lot didn't i? im happy you think it worked, tho. As for your question, a lot more is to be revealed about Ace and Sabo's… situation. it's actually pretty complex, but basically, they can't both use their fire at the same time, and in order for Ace to use his, Sabo needs to help force it out. The reason for this will be revealed in the future. And noooo, I won't abandon this! It's one of my favourite fics to write, and I anticipate that it's going to get a lot longer before it ends ;)**

 **ScandinavianTrash: *marco voice* I never take over a week to update, yoi~**


	12. 1-12 - Midday Sun

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **this took longer than dean winchester to come out lmao**

 **sorry abt the wait. read this shit**

* * *

 **Chapter 12 – Midday Sun**

* * *

Ace's transition from trainee to division member three months after he arrives at Revolutionary HQ is a night he'll never forget. He's the first division member to move up since he arrived and, according to Thatch, the youngest revolutionary in the entire army. That fact is slightly daunting, if Ace is completely honest, but empowering in a way that makes Ace's determination seem to double. He'll be the youngest division _commander_ too, if he can help it.

The news that a new – and extraordinarily young – division member is joining their ranks spreads like wildfire through the revolutionary army. Most people still think that Ace is Marco's son (something Ace is utterly indignant about), and Pidge has grown another few inches, now having to drape himself across Ace's shoulders or fly above his head as he walks in order to stay with him. The phoenix daemon has learnt to chirp, 'yoi', which always makes Ace lose it laughing. So when Ace enters the mess hall with Marco, Pidge sleeping across his shoulders, he garners many stares, as he could have expected.

Thatch honestly doesn't help. "Glad to see you're getting some quality time in with your son, Marco!" He bounces over and tousles Ace's hair, slapping him on the shoulder and making Pidge give an undignified squawk. Marco shoots him an utterly unimpressed look, and seeming to sense that he's wading through dangerous waters, Thatch puts his hands up in indignation. "Sorry, sorry! I just wanted you to loosen up a bit…"

"Well, I just wanted you to take that permanent post in the east five years ago and never show your face in front of me again, but we can't always get what we want, yoi," Marco quips. Thatch mimes falling over in shock, clutching his chest, but then actually falls over and lands on his ass on the floor. The surrounding revolutionaries, some familiar and others less so, burst into laughter and Thatch is soon cracking up too. Ace doesn't realise that he's grinning until his face starts to hurt.

A woman with raspberry-pink hair in a long braid down her back shakes Ace's hand gently. "We've heard a lot about you!" She's wearing the same leather-collared jacket that's commonplace on division members, and has chocolate-brown eyes just like Luffy's. Before Ace can reply, he's yanked away and shaking somebody else's hand, being glomped and slapped on the back by somebody he's never even met before, being congratulated for something that everybody here has long-since achieved.

Once the food is brought out, Ace becomes much more comfortable (and damn, there's a _lot_ of food). Soon, there's an eating contest and Thatch is resolutely beaten by Ace at that, as is nearly everybody else. Things only get better when Marco announces that their leader – a man that Ace has yet to meet by the name of 'Whitebeard' – is due to arrive in only a few hours after a long absence from the army. The news is met with raucous cheering and even more celebrations.

"What's Whitebeard like?" Ace asks Marco, as he's jostled by the crowd of ecstatic revolutionaries.

Marco ponders the question for a few seconds. "He's a father to us, I guess. All of us, yoi."

Ace's mind flashes back to that first night in the infirmary, and the man Marco called 'dad'. That must have been him. Still, the teen doesn't understand how one man can manage to hold a place in the hearts of hundreds, and he tells Marco this. The man chuckles.

"Think of it like this, yoi. We're all outcasts. Most of us have some kind of grudge towards the world government, and nobody wants us. But he calls us his sons and we call him Oyaji; it's like having a place to belong. It makes us happy, yoi."

As Ace contemplates these words, Thatch rolls his eyes. "I told you he was a sap!"

The bickering continues but soon morphs into light-hearted banter, which dissolves into harmless joking and storytelling. The night wears on and the party gets louder, and it's just after midnight, when Ace is just contemplating making his escape, when a huge man appears in the doorway, prompting silence to fall over the whole mess hall; that is, until people start yelling and crying out joyfully, converging on the intimidating figure. Ace figures out who he is pretty quickly, and hangs back with Marco as the revolutionaries have their celebration. The blonde is practically beaming.

As Thatch runs at the huge man and bellyflops onto his broad chest with a whoop, Marco says, "He's been gone for a few months now. It's always like this whenever Oyaji comes home- you'll get used to it soon enough, yoi."

"Mmhm." Ace makes no comment, but moves slightly closer to Marco. Marco and Thatch might have been accepting of him and his young age, but who's to say that the man at the very top will feel the same? A fifteen year old in his army might not bode well with him, especially considering how powerful he must be to be at the head of this huge force. Even as foreboding pours into Ace's gut, the crowd around the giant of a man starts to disperse and Marco pulls him gently but firmly forward, hand on his shoulder. When they reach the man, he and Marco exchange familiar smiles.

"Oyaji, this is Ace, yoi. He's our newest member," Marco reports. Ace resists the urge to turn and run.

The towering man, at least four times the size of a normal-sized human, raises an eyebrow. "Just a brat," he comments, not disdainfully. "Reckon you can make it around here, kid?"

Ace raises his head, jaw set, and stares right into the giant's yellow eyes. "'Course I can."

There's a moment of heavy silence before the domineering revolutionary leader throws his head back and laughs. The sound is rumbling and deep like an earthquake, shaking the hall to its very foundations, and Ace shivers but doesn't back down. The whole atmosphere itself relaxes; when this man laughs, so does everybody else. Even Marco is chuckling. Strangely, it doesn't feel mocking.

"I like you, brat!" The huge man raises the tankard at his side and takes a long swig. "I'm Edward Newgate, but around here, people call me Whitebeard."

"Or Oyaji!" Thatch chips in from the side, grinning widely. "Hey, Ace, he likes you! Welcome to the family!"

As the party bursts back into life with even more vigour than before, Marco drags the stunned teen back to their table, smiling gently. "Did you really think he was going to turn you away, yoi?" the older revolutionary asks, not unkindly, as if he can see what Ace is thinking.

Ace shrugs, trying to calm the adrenaline that's teasing at his senses. There's no battle to be fought here, not today. "I don't know," he settles on saying, sitting back down. Pidge curls up in his lap as soon as he's situated. As Marco turns to re-join the party, Ace calls after him, "But don't think I'm gonna call him my pops!"

"Sure you aren't, yoi." Marco grins knowingly, before he's pulled into the thronging, pulsing body of the party and Ace is left alone to his own thoughts. Soon, the party dies down, and Whitebeard returns to his quarters. Sleep comes easily to Ace.

In the days following the party, Ace doesn't expect to see much of Whitebeard. After all, he's the head of the entire army, and surely has more important things to be doing than entertaining some fifteen-year old. However, to his shock, the complete opposite happens. Whitebeard is constantly interacting with his subordinates, eating in the same hall as them and greeting every last person by name. Whenever Ace passes him in the corridor or at meetings – some of which Ace attends with Marco, to get more experience – the old man shoots him a grin, or tips his head in Ace's direction. Whenever Whitebeard's in the room, things just seem so much more homely; Ace can't explain it.

Ace doesn't have the problem of nightmares to deal with anymore, but he still sleeps in the bunker right beside Marco's room, and on sleepless nights when he can feel himself slipping into regrets and 'what-if's and 'could-have's, his substitute-older-brother is there. He's slowly starting to understand why the people of this place call each other brothers and sisters in arms, because that's exactly how they act. People call Ace's name as he passes and flash him grins, and act like they've known each other all their life.

Ace _loves_ it.

Sabo's doing well, too. Apart from a few risky instances of trying to snoop around for info and nearly getting caught (and promptly getting the silent treatment from Ace for ignoring him), he's rising in favour in the eyes of his superiors every day, becoming more and more of a competent hand-to-hand fighter and getting used to not using his pipe – weaponry like that is prohibited in the navy, but Sabo hopes that once he rises above the rank of trainee, he'll be allowed to train himself to use a bo staff.

Ace can tell that even if he's flourishing in training, however, Sabo isn't happy in any way. Every time another one of the navymen tries to befriend him or compliments his fighting style, the blonde has to bite his tongue just to keep from berating them. An image of Luffy flashes through his mind and Ace knows instinctively that Sabo's given up hope. He's lost sight of why he even travelled south to begin with, and only carries on looking for any clues about Luffy to cushion the blow for Ace. Ace appreciates it, but even through all of this, he doubts that he'll ever stop truly believing that Luffy survived until he sees his body.

And so, caught in a cycle of denial, the two brothers move forwards, further and further away from the people they used to be. Ace doesn't even know what Sabo looks like anymore- only that he's growing his short hair out, and that he's had a minor growth spurt. A year, filled with missions and growing closer to his new family, passes so quickly that Ace can barely blink. Christmas is a loud, wild affair filled with laughter, and by the end of the end of the night, Ace finds himself sitting sleepily on Whitebeard's shoulder, resting against the man's broad neck.

The people are singing old pirate's songs, even though the pirating age died out centuries ago, and Ace can feel Whitebeard's – _Oyaji's_ – voice rumbling beneath him. The air smells of smoke and fried food, and somewhere, he can hear Thatch and Marco singing, the former significantly more enthused than the latter. Ace is warm and comfortable, eyes slipping, and he knows somehow that if he falls, his new family will be there to catch him. Pidge is curled up around his shoulder like some kind of bizarre feather boa. The bird has grown so much that he's ridiculously heavy, but Ace doesn't have the heart to move him.

"Hey, Oyaji?" Ace murmurs, words slurred with sleep, voice nearly drowned out in the drunken hubbub of the party.

"Yes, son?" Whitebeard replies. He sounds amused but in no way tipsy, as if he hasn't drunk more booze in this party than Ace has in his whole life.

Luffy's laughter rings in Ace's ears. He barely knows what it sounds like anymore, now that it's been nearly two years since he heard it in person. His brothers are slowly becoming faceless in his mind. "Was it good that I survived?" There's no answer, and Ace coughs, feeling like he needs to explain himself. "You know, after the whole thing in the East. What if it has been one of my brother's instead?"

Oyaji sighs heavily, suddenly sounding far older than he is. His sorrow echoes through Ace like he's feeling it from far away. Around them, the party goes on, but it seems muted and almost non-existent now. "Are you glad that you met us, Ace?"

Ace nearly falls off his perch. "Of course I am! You guys- you said we were family, right?!"

Chuckling, Whitebeard reaches up to steady his smaller charge on his shoulder. "We are. But we wouldn't be if it had been somebody else who had travelled all this way to find us." Not understanding, Ace holds his tongue. "You need to stop worrying about the world, Ace. Caring about your family is something we should never forsake, but if we'd exchange you for somebody else, we wouldn't be family at all. You're young. You're free, a child of the sea. It doesn't matter if anybody thinks you shouldn't have lived- all that matters is that you have a family who knows that you should have."

Ace stares at the older man for a good few minutes, sure that he looks gobsmacked, but then lets out a small, tentative laugh. "I guess you're right."

"I know I am, you brat!" Whitebeard laughs his booming laugh, ruffling Ace's hair with one gargantuan finger and the force of a coal truck. The party seems to gain a new kind of life at the sound, the crowd surging with more energy, and Ace feels content to fall asleep against his adoptive father with a small smile. Soon, he's dead to the world after the best Christmas he's ever had.

* * *

"Keep your eyes on me, yoi! Don't get distracted!"

Promptly doing the exact opposite of what he's been told, Ace tries to glance over his shoulder at Thatch and feels the hard punch to his jaw more harshly than he would have expected. Losing his balance with the shock and sharp pain, Ace crashes to the floor, and can hear Thatch dissolving into hopeless laughter behind him. Marco snorts derisively, offering a hand to pull the teen to his feet which Ace accepts with a groan. Everything hurts.

"How did I miss that? _How_ did I miss that?!" Rubbing his back, which is surely peppered with bruises, Ace shoots Marco a glare with no heat behind it. "Stupid pineapple."

"Clumsy brat," Marco shoots back. He barely looks flustered. Glancing across at Thatch, he asks, "How many is that, yoi?"

"Sixty-three eighteen to Marco." Slapping Ace on the back with unnecessary force, Thatch sighs. "Better luck next time, kiddo."

"Don't call me kiddo, I'm only sixteen!"

"Kiddo."

"Marco, help me here!"

"He's right, _kid_ , yoi."

Sabo chips in. _They're right; you're totally a kid._

 _We're the same age!_ Ace fumes, before snatching a towel from Thatch and towelling his sweaty hair roughly. Scowling mildly at his two superiors, Ace says, "Just watch it- I'll get the jump on both of you someday!"

* * *

When Ace hears that somebody's finally getting promoted to second division commander, his heart sinks despite himself. Marco, the one who let it slip, seems to notice and gives a small sigh. "Sorry Ace, yoi. I know you were going for that position." When Ace doesn't raise his head, still looking dejected, Marco leans in and whispers, "I did hear that Oyaji's considering making you vice second division commander though, yoi…"

"Wait, what?!" Ace's head shoots up and he darts forward. "Seriously?!"

Marco whistles innocently, dodging smoothly out of the way of Ace's desperate attempts to grab his arm. "I said nothing of the sort, yoi." He gives a small wink, before beckoning Ace to follow him. The summer sun streams through a nearby window and onto his face, and the sixteen-year old follows eagerly. "We're having a party for the promotion, yoi, though you probably expected that."

Rolling his eyes, Ace says, "Of course. You guys get drunk over _everything_." After a second or so of comfortable silence, Ace goes on, "So who's the person getting promoted? Do I know them? Wait, lemme guess… Scarlet? No - Kidd, it's gotta be Kidd. Right?"

Marco shakes his head with a sly grin. "You might have met him in training, yoi. He's nineteen."

Ace mulls over this new info in his head. He can barely remember the names of anybody he met in training – it's been a year since his training ended, and that time is a blur or dust and muscle aches, sweat and the gruelling experience of living as a resident of the trainee bunkers. He grimaces at the memory of it, and can feel Sabo doing the same. "Nobody comes to mind…" he eventually answers, cautiously.

"Well, you might recognise him when you see him, yoi." The tone Marco uses tells Ace that this is the end of the conversation. Together, they troop through the corridors, greeting those they pass with smiles of their own. Excitement slowly fills Ace as they approach the hall.

When Marco swings one of the doors open, Ace is momentarily blinded by light streaming in from the thatched ceiling. When his vision clears, the teen can make out a handful of figures standing in the centre of the hall, a few of them glancing over at the sound of the doors opening. Most of the division commanders are gathered here, and they wave to Marco and Ace with varying levels of enthusiasm. Ace scans through the crowd for any unfamiliar faces and, sure enough, in the centre of the huddle stands-

"Leo?" A hazy memory of an eastern-born trainee with a pleasant accent enters Ace's mind. Out of all the people he thought it might have been, Ace's old sparring buddy was not one of them.

The older teen looks surprised but after a moment, he gives a crooked grin. He's just as tall and pale as before, still sporting overgrown black hair and dark grey eyes, but the wiry muscles wrapping around his limbs are more distinct. Leo, unlike Ace, has kept his leather-collared jacket from training (Ace mostly wears his own clothes or hand-me-downs from Marco). Leo still towers over him, but Ace doesn't feel like an ant this time, which tells him something about how much he's grown.

"Hey, Ace." Leo steps forward and offers his hand to shake. Ace takes it without thinking, smile slowly growing on his face. Leo may be a little stoic and grumpy at times, Ace remembers from training, but he's level-headed and reasonable most of the time. Provided Marco was telling the truth when he said that Ace might be in line to become the vice, Ace can tell that he'll be working under somebody who is, at the very least, bearable.

"When did you move out of training?" Ace grins.

Leo hums contemplatively. "A few months back," he says vaguely, "When you were out in the north-east with Commander Marco. That's probably why you missed the party."

"You know you don't have to call me 'commander' now, right, Leo, yoi?" Marco says, amused, from Ace's side.

"Sure, Commander," Leo says absentmindedly, causing a few chuckles through the crowd of commanders. They slip into easy, individual conversations, and before Ace realises it, the towering hall has begun to fill up with people around them. Ace and Leo slip easily back into conversation. Ace learns that Leo was previously part of the fifteenth division – the division that specialises in scouting – which explains why he and Ace didn't bump into each other all this time.

When Whitebeard stands from his huge seat in the centre of the hall, everybody around him quiets, the silence expanding like a wave around him. "My children. Today, as most of you know, we're electing a new second division commander into our ranks."

Murmurs break out in the silence like ripples on the surface of an ocean. Somebody at the back shouts- "Finally!" –prompting a few scattered laughs. Marco shoots an amused look in that direction before everybody directs their attention once again to Whitebeard, who has a smirk playing on his lips under his long moustache.

"I'd like to congratulate Jackson Leo for earning his place as second division commander…" Whitebeard lets the sentence hang on the air for a second, and Ace's heart leaps. "-And Portgas D. Ace for earning the position of vice second division commander!"

Ace's stomach rolls with something between shock and pure, concentrated joy. Around him, spanning in all directions and seeming to drown out the whole world, the crowds of people whoop and stomp their feet on the already-unstable ground, striking up a rhythm that only they know how to play. Suddenly, it's just like his first day once again. People are clamouring to shakes his hand and he's slapped on the back so many times that his skin stings. This time, however, he can hear Leo's loud, rough laugher from a few feet away, and they meet eyes over the tops of heads when they're lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd.

"Congratulations!" Leo yells, voice almost drowned out in the laughter and cheers of the people below.

Ace echoes, "Congratulations!" and they share grins. Sabo's practically ecstatic inside Ace's head, probably getting distracted from what he's meant to be doing on the other side but not caring either. Marco, Thatch, the other commanders and vices and Oyaji himself are grinning from the sides, and Marco flashes Ace a thumbs up when they meet each other's' eyes, one smiling knowingly, the other beaming so widely he feels like his face is about to split.

* * *

The bar itself is sleepy- it's a tired establishment that sells tired food. The staff working here, looking just as worn out as their workplace, exhibit a special brand of pragmatism that makes it evident that their hopes and dreams don't extend further than the ends of their service trays. The bar's patrons (if they can be named so formally) are half-obscured by blizzards of smog from cigarettes, and it's obvious that this is the kind of place where any strange occurrence, no matter the size and scale, is frowned upon and also concealed in the tides of musty cigar smoke. Rain patters dully outside, the sound pressing against the walls but not quite penetrating through the haze of quiet conversation and the smell of ale.

Of course, the dust can only be left to settle for so long. The bell above the creaking door, unneeded over the tinny screech of rusty hinges, jingles lamely as half a dozen people step into the humid new world that resides inside the Frog and Fox. Shadows of figures sitting along the bar turn slightly to face the newcomers, eyes glint dangerously from the nooks and crannies of the room. Even the clock on the wall seems to stop ticking for a few seconds, suspended in time. The group of strangers, boots shaking loose decades of dust and grime sewn into the floor, seem at ease – at the very least, they don't seem scared. The man at the front gives the impression of a leader, dark hair tickling his shoulders and an easy smirk on his face.

"You got room for seven of us?" His voice is low but young, completely relaxed in this place. The man at his side, eyes shadowed by a garish yellow cowboy hat, is grinning widely- it feels almost illegal to show that kind of relaxation in a place like this. He's immediately out of place.

But nobody mentions the elephant in the room. "We've got room for fifty if yer payin', sir," the man behind the bar almost growls, without any of the respect that comes with the honorific. A soft jingle of coins answers that question, and multiple stomachs around the bar rumble with pure greed. This town is far from prosperous, and so is its people. And yet nobody steps forward to wrestle the small pouch away from the stranger, and he and his troop move as a unit to follow the bartender upstairs into the bowels of the inn. Silence and smoke settle once again behind them.

"Miserable faces, huh?" Ace mutters to Leo as they trudge along behind the reedy-looking man. Behind them, the rest of second division, squad four give a murmur of agreement.

Leo snorts. "Guess you could say that. I'm surprised that none of them have keeled over and died yet, with all that cigarette smoke they're inhaling." His voice turns disdainful and Ace and the rest of squad four laugh. It's a well-known fact that Leo, for all of his roughness and apparent lack of hygiene, hates the concept of smoking.

Behind them, Scarlet gives a musical little laugh. She's been working alongside Ace since he first moved up to division member all that time ago and now works under him. They're good friends. She's been with the revolution for years, fighting against the people that drove her out of her home island, just below the southern fringe. She's friendly enough, stubborn but kind-hearted, but Ace knows that she could probably send him on his ass if she tried. She's got years of experience over him, and her raspberry pink bangs frame hard, world-weary eyes.

"How did we know you were going to say that, commander?" she says with a hint of teasing in her tone. She reaches up and swipes delicately at the rainwater on her shoulder.

They've been travelling for the last few days with no rest and it's safe to say that the whole squad, Ace and Leo included, are exhausted. If it wasn't for the fact that Leo knows this area from his previous travels, they would have gotten lost in a heartbeat. The whole squad is soaked with rain, and they drag their feet with exhaustion. Even Ace, who spent a whole year living like this at the tender age of fourteen, can feel his eyes drooping and yearns to peel off his boots and tend to what he knows are multiple nasty blisters.

Squad four are travelling through one particularly large island – practically a country in itself – in revolutionary territory to reach a town to the southern side of the island, where there's rumoured to be a world government spy hiding in their ranks. The second division are the scouting division, the eyes and ears of the revolution, so this mission fits into their expertise perfectly. This is Ace's second mission since he was promoted. Leo's taken to the position like a fish to water and while Ace sometimes feels that he's abysmally underqualified, he's getting along well, too. Sabo's rising in leaps and bounds as well, trying to master a new fighting style that requires him to practically break his fingers daily. It's painful as hell but no matter how much Ace tells him to stop, Sabo is nothing if not determined. He's as stubborn and insolent as a cockroach that refuses to get crushed.

Leo, Ace and the others reach their rooms without event: one for the five males and one for the three females. The girls - Scarlet, a quiet girl called Pudding and a girl with green eyes and black hair that Ace doesn't remember the name of – retire quickly, limping on sore feet and ready to collapse into their beds. Leo, Ace and two men named Kidd and Bepo pick beds without drama (save for the small scuffle between Leo and Kidd, who's as childish when it comes to getting what he wants as his name suggests). Ace spends half an hour or so nursing his sore feet and helping to bandage a cut on Leo's foreleg before, soothed by the low hubbub of the bar below, he lets himself fall asleep in the bed closest to the window.

Wakefulness comes only a few hours later when a sound - Ace is too tired and groggy to recognise what it is for a few seconds – rings through the night. On the bed beside his own, Leo groans before rolling over and giving an even more intense snore. Ace reasons with himself that the chances are, he just imagined the whole thing. After all, Thatch told him once that the brain is most unreliable when sleep deprived.

However, just as Ace rolls over and tries to close his eyes to get back to sleep, the sound rings out again. It's tinny and quite high, hard to make out over the patter of rain on the roof, but Ace bolts upright in bed. The scar on his chin is aching with the cold and rain (downside of having burn scars) and now his senses are in overdrive. That was a voice; he's sure of it.

Creeping silently out of his bed, Ace clambers over Leo and picks his way around Kidd and Bepo, who are sprawled across their beds like beached whales. Stumbling through the darkness, Ace accidently kicks Bepo in the side. Bepo grunts and makes a small noise of pain. "Sorry…?" the gentle man says sleepily.

"Go back to sleep, Bepo, sorry for waking you," Ace hisses. Bepo hums obediently, mutters another apology and rolls over, light hair plastered to his face. Ace rolls his eyes fondly. He loves squad four as much as any of the other squads in the second division, but Bepo is nothing if not the most apologetic, self-deprecating person Ace has ever and will ever meet. That's definitely something they need to work on.

The corridor outside is silent but a hand lands on Ace's shoulder when he closes the door to the guys' room, and he flinches violently. Whirling around, he's met with the sight of the girl with green eyes and black hair, eyebrows raised. Ace tries to calm his breathing.

"Sorry, cousin, you made me jump." Ace glances up and down the hallway, suddenly paranoid. "Did you hear that noise too?"

The girl nods. "Sounded like a scream," she observes, letting her hand drop to her side. "Is anybody else awake?"

Ace is about to answer when, sounding closer this time, the scream rings through the night yet again. It sounds like the person is only a few streets away, if that, and Ace's brow furrows in concern. He and the girl share a look before heading as one down the corridor, Ace at the front, ready to take whatever the new nasty surprise is head-on.

* * *

 ****fyi 'scarlet', in case you didn't remember, is rebecca's mom. 'kidd' is…..kidd. as for bep,,,,,well, you'll find out soon enough. tis sad. and no, i didn't make him into a human for convenience; his bear-ness will become apparent in the next few chapters**

 **hella lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, especially with one thing that ace says. I shall divulge no more~**

 **please review they give me life**

 **ily**


	13. 1-13 - All That We Will Ever Be

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **(review replies for this chapter and last chapter are at the bottom)**

 **trying! to! write! faster! And the words start coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop coming and they don't stop co**

* * *

 **Chapter 13 – All That We Will Ever Be**

* * *

On the street outside the misty bar, rain shines on the pavement and what was practically a monsoon earlier has calmed to a light drizzle in the imposing gloom. The girl (damnitt, Ace really needs to learn her name, doesn't he?) stands wordlessly to Ace's side as they stare up and down the street, Ace straining his ears for any sign of the strange noise from before. Everything seems silent enough, but there's a heaviness on the air that tells of an approaching storm. Ace is uncomfortably tense, right down to his gut.

Suddenly, his ears catch the tail end of what sounds like a small, muffled scream from around the corner. He sets off in that direction without a glance back at a jog, feet splashing in the puddles of water that riddle the ground, knowing that if he sprints he'll just slip on the wet ground and land on his ass. The girl shadows him, silent and quick as a fox, and they round the corner at the same time, only to be met with the sight of a burly-looking man carrying a large, long sack down the street. He's silhouetted by the dull twilight, bald patch glinting grotesquely in the light.

Ace would think nothing of the man, if not for the fact that the sack he's holding is struggling against his grip.

Trying to stay casual, Ace strolls forward. "Nice night," he says evenly, inwardly cursing how young his sixteen-year old voice sounds. Not exactly the most intimidating thing to hear.

However, it seems like enough to make the man nervous, and he tightens his grip on the sack. Said sack gives a small whimper of pain. "Y-Yes, very lovely night," he stutters, voice low and scratchy. For all of his size and stature, it's obvious that this man doesn't know at all how to fight (or, at that, how to lie).

Ace has never been good with subtlety, and now is no exception. "Alright, let's cut the crap. Whoever you've got in that sack- let 'em out."

The person in the sack ceases their struggle for a second, making a muffled noise of shock, before starting up again with more intensity. The man holding them looks like he's grappling with an eel – he might as well be, by the fight they're putting up. The slave trader's eyes dart quickly from side to side, scrambling for an idea, but it soon seems to hit him that there's no way out and he drops the sack without care for its contents, turning and fleeing into the dark. Ace makes a 'tch' noise after him, scowling deeply, before turning his attention to the wriggling body sack on the floor. By the looks of them, they can't be over five foot tall, and have a lean physique. The chances are that they're gagged, as well.

Ace exchanges a look with his companion before kneeling down and reaching out to untie the knot at the top of the bag, staying cautious. For all he knows, the occupant of the sack could be feral. Still, he loosens the knot before releasing it fully and pulling back the lip of the sack, being met with the top of a head of messy, auburn hair. After a second's hesitation, Ace grabs the person by the armpits and tugs them free of the bag without much effort (they weigh next to nothing). Deciding to play the 'ripping off a bandage' card, he grasps the end of the tape over their mouth and tugs it away with a sharp tearing noise, turning them to face him.

Finally, Ace has a chance to examine them. Under the dull light, the teen can tell that she's a girl, probably only a few years younger than him. She has pale skin and short, messy hair, and her T-shirt has arms three times too wide for her skinny arms. Her cheeks are hollow and her eyes are wild and slightly feral, panicked. Somehow, Ace recognises her, but he doesn't know where from.

"Who're you?!" The girl scrambles backwards, eyes wide with terror and hands shaking with adrenaline. The more Ace looks at her, the more he can tell that she's very, very young.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay!" Ace puts his hands up in a placating manner, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. "It's alright, we're not here to hurt you."

The small redhead starts, before narrowing her eyes and peering at Ace's face more closely. "You…"

"Yeah?" Ace raises an eyebrow, and half a second later it seems to hit her.

Her eyes widen. "You're that boy from Loguetown… You saved me! It's you! Two years ago, you put me on a raft and then the island- how did you survive?!"she asks in a rush, scrambling to her feet and staring at Ace with open shock and awe. And Ace _remembers_. She's one of the children he piled into his raft at Loguetown, in that mad rush of panic and feral fear. She looked up at him like he was the sun, like he was something so amazing that she couldn't draw her eyes away. The memory hits him with startling detail.

"It's- wow, it's been a while," Ace stumbles in a rush. He has no idea what to say. "What happened after I pushed the raft into the sea? Are the others alive?"

The girl seems to still be on shock. "It's really you…" Suddenly, she sniffs. Something wet along the rim of her eye glints in the moonlight. "I'm Haruta." Ace goes to reply but she ploughs on. "As for the boat, we saw Loguetown- we saw what happened. The boat floated for three days. We had no food, no water, but we managed to make it to a nearby island. Me, Nami and Zoro – the other kids who were with me – stayed there for a few weeks before we heard what was going on in the rest of the west."

Haruta shivers. Ace realises absently that his green-eyed subordinate has moved to stand a few feet away, but doesn't leave. Her eyes glint, reflective like those of a fox, in the night. Haruta continues, "People were _terrified_. Everybody was trying to leave at the same time and they closed the southern border to anybody who couldn't or wouldn't join the navy. The slave traders rushed in, picking off anybody who left alone. Nami was taken and though me and Zoro tried to find her, we never could. So we tried to travel south to join the navy. It was the only thing we had left, because we'd been told that the same thing – bombing, mass killings – was happening in the north. It made sense to us, even if it was just a scare tactic."

The girl, large green eyes dancing with shadows, speaks like she's pouring out her whole soul. Ace's own aches and throbs, and he sits beside her without grace, crossing his legs on the cold, wet ground.

"But when we got there, they only accepted Zoro. I was too small, too young, a _girl_. Before we could do anything, they took him and closed their gates. I guess, after Conomi was firebombed, I thought that I only had one option; maybe in the north they could protect me from everything. I worked my way back up, hid away on slaver ships. It's taken me over a year to get here."

The shadows don't vanish from her eyes, but relief clouds them. "And _you're_ here. Are you a revolutionary? Do you think they'll let me join?"

Ace makes a show of looking Haruta up and down, taking in the scrapes on her knees and her stick-thin arms and the skin stretched over her wrists. She's filthy and small and scared. _She's just like I was_.

"Nothing could make them say no," Ace grins.

He realises with a sharp jolt that, despite what he had thought before, he's not the only kid running from the terror of the east. From older teens like Leo – stoic and cold and willing to kill to survive – to young, seemingly fragile children like Haruta – scared and alone and wishing for a home – young people from the eastern area are packing up their hopes and dreams and everything they own, and setting off to join the revolution. He's not the only one anymore. He's one of many, the new generation, prompted by genocide and fear to run away from the seas they knew. They feel like a unit, and Sabo's the only person he can think of who stuck out of the mould, instead travelling south to venture into the belly of the beast. It makes Ace wish even more than his brother was with him.

The vice second division commander has to support Haruta for them to make it back into the inn and up the stairs, as her legs are shaking and her movements are sluggish with fatigue, but they manage it eventually. Ace's comrade went on ahead of them to wake the others and by the time they make it to the rooms, Leo is awake and alert and the others are trying to drag themselves out of their beds. Leo, ever the leader, takes one look at Haruta and orders Kidd to grab his food pack and wakes Bepo with a swift jab to the side. Ace sits the younger teen on the bed and when he stands, he's met immediately with Leo's sharp gaze.

"Who is she?" the division commander asks softly, as Kid puts his food pack grudgingly into Haruta's shaking hands.

"She's somebody I met while I was travelling here. Leo, she's starved and hurt- we can't just turn her away!"

Leo rolls his eyes, scoffing gruffly. "I wasn't about to suggest it. We'll revert back tomorrow, take the quickest route back to HQ and try to drop her off as soon as we can. But we can't forsake this whole mission, Ace, this will set us back. I'm guessing you don't think she'd be able to make it the rest of the way with us?"

Shaking his head, Ace lets out a heavy sigh. "We managed to get her away from a slaver, I doubt he's the best at supplying food. She won't survive on the rations we have right now. But…" Ace shifts, suddenly uncomfortable. For once, Leo actually feels like a superior and not just a friend. "There is one way, I guess."

"Which is?"

Swallowing, Ace says, "I could take her back. Me, one of the others and Haruta would be able to get back easily, and it's only a few days' journey if we hurry. But that means that you and the others would have to finish the mission on your own, and…" He trails off.

"Are you saying we can't do this without you?" Leo smirks, and Ace suddenly feels very stupid. "You know we can handle ourselves, _vice_."

"Shut up!" Ace bristles under the teasing, but there's no heat in his voice. Leo just laughs, and they exchange smiles.

"Take Scarlet with you, at least. She's got a kid back at base, I can tell she misses her."

Ace nods, already having heard enough proud storytelling about little Rebecca. "Yes, commander."

"Don't call me that!" Leo chuckles, and the tension breaks for good.

From amidst the newly-arrived Scarlet's fussing, Haruta meets Ace's eyes. "Where are you taking me?" she asks, cautiously. Even with her obvious trust in Ace, she has her doubts.

"Home," replies Ace.

* * *

The journey back to headquarters takes only a few days, as Ace has predicted, and their arrival is met with a rather disgruntled looking Marco in the entrance hall. It's just past dawn, the sky wrapped in birdsong, and the Zoan gift-user looks to be in desperate need of a nap. Or some caffeine. Preferably both.

"Your squad wasn't meant to return for at least another week, yoi. Where's your commander?" Marco's brows are furrowed, face set into a permanent scowl.

Ace goes to answer, but is ultimately distracted by Pidge's entrance in the form of a swooping dive from the rafters above directly into the teen's arms. The overgrown bird is just small enough to fit into Ace's arms, but won't be for much longer. Pidge coos excited, showering his owner in blue feathers and burrowing into his side. Ace laughs, returning the affection of the being that's practically his best friend wholeheartedly, glad to be home. Taking off his dust filled pullover and transferring Pidge from one arm into the other, Ace shoots a grin at Haruta, who's staring wide-eyed, before returning his gaze to Marco. If anything, his superior looks even more pissed than before.

"Uh, hi?" Ace tries, shying away from the stern look that's being directed at him.

"I said: where. Is. Leo. Yoi."

No getting away from this one, then. "He and the others are still over to the east, where our mission was. When we were staying on the island a few nights ago, a girl I used to know from back home turned up; or, rather, we rescued her from a slaver. We decided to bring her back while the others finished up over there." Ace doesn't need to look closely to see the way that Marco's jaw tightens at this, the way his eyes darken. It's always like this whenever the topic of slavery comes up with Marco.

Marco steps around Ace, kneeling down in front of Haruta, who shies back slightly. Ace watches the cold and calculating revolutionary, stern to a ridiculous extent, transform. An easy smile takes over Marco's face, his posture relaxing to mirror Haruta's, and he keeps just the right distance from her to stop her from spooking. Ace should know how good Marco is at comforting kids; he was one of them.

"I'm Marco, yoi. What's your name, kid?" Marco speaks in a voice just the right volume and pitch. Ace finds himself subconsciously just from the sound of it. Haruta's shoulders loosen slightly and though she doesn't smile, she stops shying away from the older man.

"I'm Haruta," she whispers.

"It's good to meet you, Haruta. Now, while I talk to Ace, Scarlet is going to take you somewhere to get some rest and some food. Do you know who Scarlet is?"

Haruta nods, and lets Scarlet (who looks close to melting at the cuteness of the scene) take her hand and lead her over to a nearby low table. Ace tries to keep his eyes on the scene for as long as possible, dreading turning back to Marco, but soon he has to. The man looks decidedly unimpressed, and grabs Ace's arm, pulling him out of one of the doors and down a long corridor to one of the first rooms that Ace saw when he came here- the first division commander's office.

Before the door has even closed behind Ace, he's ushered into the chair in front of Marco's desk. The man himself folds his hands, leans across the desk and stares directly into Ace's eyes. Outside, a bird calls loudly, one of many in the dawn chorus. A stack of papers on the corner of the desk rustle in the light breeze from the open window.

"Ace." Marco sighs. "Ace. I know it might have seemed like the logical option at the time to split up-"

"Well what else could we have done?!"

"-And I know that you wanted to help Haruta-"

"Of course I did! She was a slave, Marco, we couldn't leave her!"

"-But abandoning a mission and splitting up in the middle of said mission is unacceptable. No, Ace, _listen_." The steel in Marco's voice forces Ace to pause in his desperate defence of his actions, humbled, shocked. "You've said it to me yourself. We're an army. We work through unison and togetherness, and look how far we've gotten. But if we start splitting without warning, not letting our superiors know what we're doing, we'll never truly progress. You and your squad rushed into things without regard for your own safety, just because you couldn't think to call reinforcements and take a minute to consider your actions before your threw yourselves recklessly into the thick of them."

"Do you know why we have the squad system, Ace?" Ace shakes his head, dumbstruck, suddenly feeling like a scolded child. "There are seven per squad. Division leader and vice division leader – there in case the going gets tough, in order to form a first line of defence. They act – or are _supposed_ to act, in your case – responsibly, and consider all courses of action in case of an accident or malfunction. Medic – Bepo, in your case. There's one per squad, because you're supposed to stick together. Then, four more members: two more experienced, like Kidd and Scarlet, and two newer, like Pudding and Haley. It's a flawless system and it's worked for us for years and years."

"I'm sorry," Ace says, because he can't think of anything else to say.

"Don't be sorry, Ace, just don't do it again. Okay?" Marco gives a small smile.

"Okay," agrees Ace.

Marco gives a small, tired noise, and lets his head thump against the desk. From Ace's lap, Pidge (who he had forgotten was there for a second) squawks in a way that sounds vaguely concerned, but doesn't move away from Ace.

"You alive in there?" the vice-commander asks, struggling to hold back a laugh.

"The last few days have been stressful, yoi," comes the muffled reply.

"What happened?"

"Oh, there's this guy – you probably haven't heard of him, being from the east and all – who used to be one of us. Set out on his own a good few years ago now, and though he fights the world government just like the rest of us, he's more like an anarchist than a revolutionary, really, yoi."

"How so?" Ace leans forward curiously.

"Well he's hardly devoted his life to the cause." Marco snorts derisively. "The man sees himself as some kind of pirate, travelling the world in search of adventure without a care in the world for justice or any of the ideals we fight for here. He's immature and, honestly, quite a nuisance, yoi. And we just caught wind of the fact that he's near this island, creating chaos again. He's probably here to have a few drinks with Oyaji, talk about what's been going on in the world."

"He sounds like a… fun guy," Ace settles on saying, before he stretches and stands. "If you don't mind, I'm just gonna go catch a nap. We've been travelling non-stop for the last few days, and I'm aching." He wrinkles his nose.

"Getting old?" quips Marco.

"That's what you'd like to think." With a wink, Ace is out of the room, and Marco directs a half-hearted scowl at the door, without any real anger behind it.

* * *

"You're still alive then, brat?"

Whitebeard's voice rings out through the hall and all lingering whispers, all clusters of hushed conversation spread throughout the room, silence in an instant. The massive man hasn't even moved from his chair yet he exudes power in spades, just from where he sits. The man at his feet, armed with nothing but the sheathed sword at his side and a will of steel, doesn't even flinch.

"Good to see you too, ol' man." The red-haired man, shock of scarlet hair now on show with his familiar hat gone, laughs. Marco, from where he stands at his father's side, observes wordlessly, taking in everything about his old comrade that has changed.

Shanks is missing something that he had the last time he was with them; something youthful and joyful and innocent at the same time. It's been a good few years since the man showed his face here. There are three new scars over his eye, given by an unknown enemy. His brown eyes are dark, and the cluster of men behind him – the group of outcasts that he calls his crew – look grave.

"What brings you back here after all these years?" Whitebeard chuckles, and though he doesn't sound uneasy (Whitebeard _never_ sounds uneasy), the sound holds no humour. "If you wanted to share a drink, you would've brought the booze."

"I'm asking around for information. Information that nobody's been able to give me so far." Shanks' head is low, and his voice speared with something akin to grief. Perplexed, Marco leans forward. "If anybody will know anything more about this, than it has to be you."

Whitebeard considers his ex-subordinate closely for a second, before making a short, casual gesture with his hand. Everyone around who's watching the exchange with interest immediately dissipates, though most continue to glance back over every now and again, unable to tar their eyes away from the man in the centre of the room. Shanks hasn't been back here in years, but it's still hard to process (at least, it is for some of the older members) that the bright, red-haired boy with the sharp wit and cheeky smile has turned into this. Shanks looks like a hollow shell of a man compared to how he looked only a few years ago.

"What do you need, Shanks?" the old man asks, not unkindly.

Shanks glances around for a second, seeming lost, before sighing heavily and sitting. He folds his legs beneath him, and the men that came with him dissipate, going to converse with surrounding revolutionaries.

"Do you remember, thirteen years ago, I travelled to the east?" he says suddenly. Whitebeard nods simply, echoed by Marco. "Well, when I was there, I met up with a girl. Makino. She was… amazing. I guess." He coughs, uncomfortable, like an embarrassed teenager, before his seriousness returns. "One thing led to another and when I left the island a few months later, I didn't realise it but she was pregnant."

"And?" Whitebeard prompts. "What does this have to do with us, son?"

Shanks stiffens, as if holding himself back from telling Whitebeard not to call him that, before he takes a deep breath and ploughs on. "I went back to the island eight years later and met my son again." Pride fills his brown eyes, unabashed and pure. "He'd grown so much. And he had two brothers, living on the streets. Gifted." Whitebeard raises an eyebrow, but says nothing. "They all had each other and I tried to take them as my sons, too. I stayed for a few months, but when I left, two of them called me their father and the third just didn't say it in those words."

Suddenly, it hits Marco. "You said this was in the East, yoi?"

Shank's head dips further, grief filling his eyes. "Edgetown," he mutters.

Whitebeard shifts in his seat, a flash of rage flitting across his face for a second at what he's just been told. "Son, I know that's awful. But what information can we give you that could help with this? There's no way they could have survived."

"That's what I thought, too." For the first time since he arrived here, hope fills Shanks' eyes. "But a few weeks after it happened, I happened to rescue a girl from a slaver ship in the east who was originally from Loguetown. A girl called Nami. She told me about how, a month or so before, a boy had saved her from her island before it was bombed. He perfectly matched the description of one of the brothers. A little while later, I heard about somebody passing through an island called Kaira who matched that description. I might be grasping at straws here, Oya- _Whitebeard_ , but if there's even a chance that one of my sons is still alive then I have to at least _try_ to find him."

"Calm down, Shanks." There's a new resolve in Edward Newgate's eyes. "Can you tell us what this son looks like? He could have joined us in the last few months if he was really headed in this direction. We'll start up a search throughout our troops."

"You'll really help me?" Shanks' face lights up.

"Of course, son."

Shanks sighs, and some of the ever-present tension in his frame melts away. "Well, he has black hair and grey eyes - sorta silvery, I guess. And a lot of freckles. And his name is-"

"Shanks?"

Shanks starts, glancing left and right until his eyes zero in on a figure in the doorway into the rest of the base. His face melts into complete and utter shock, and he stumbles to his feet. Activity in the hall seems to dim for a second as people glance over, taking in the dumbstruck look on the scarlet-haired man's face.

Ace doesn't look much better. He takes a few steps forward, then a few more, before stumbling into a sprint and flying at Shanks. He screeches to a stop a few feet in front of the older man, panting and looking incredulous. "Shanks?!"

"Ace!" And just like that, the spell breaks. Ace steps forward and Shanks opens his arms and envelops the teen in them. Marco opens his mouth to say something, but Whitebeard puts a hand on his shoulder and gestures subtly to Ace. There's a broad smile on his face, even as tears trickle around and into it, and he returns the hug with complete enthusiasm. The rest of the hall look on in confusion, not knowing why Ace would be hugging this man, but nobody thinks to interrupt. The scene is honestly pretty touching.

But all too soon, Shanks pulls away and looks his young charge up and down with wide eyes. "What happened to you - what happened to Sabo and Luffy?" His eyes zero in on the scar on Ace's chin, obviously a deep burn scar, and his brows furrow. "How did you get that?"

Ace blinks hard, before he laughs breathlessly and runs a hand back through his bangs. "God, it's a really long story."

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 **I hope you liked this chapter, and now its time for le review replies! And there are a lot of them ;_; thank you so much guys ily all**

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 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 11 , Apr 13:**

 ** _I realised I'm practically blind because I thought it said March 2011...  
Oh no, that foreshadowing •~•  
Update soon~_**

 **God, I did exactly the opposite of update soon ;_; sorry! I meant to update quicker but life got on top of me. but I'm glad you like it! And yes, I'm upping the foreshadowing like WUT**

 **Stay tuned, im glad you're enjoying!**

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 **jess, Chapter 11, Apr 13:**

 ** _Loved it! It was cool to see Ace meet the Commanders (and Bay. I'm glad you're bringing Bay into this at least a little. She's so cool.) And of course Ace kicks most of the trainees' butts lol. I expect nothing less from him. And I actually like Leo, so don't worry about that._**

 **I love writing Ace's interactions with the commanders so that scene was so fun to pull together! And yes. Im lowkey crushing on Bay rn. I love her. And of course he kicks their asses! He's ace. He's fucking BOMB when it comes to anything like this.**

 **Im glad you liked leo! He wont be around for long…..hint hint…..sorry ;_;**

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 **zoewinter1, Chapter 11, Apr 13:**

 ** _see the thing isn't that Ace needs a hug (well he does, lots of hugs, somebody please hug this by for the rest of his life) but that he needs to ACCEPT the hugs. He thinks he needs to be all tough on the outside AND the inside and for fucks sake bby its okay to be scared and hurt and scarred and somebody please cuddle this boy_**

 **YES. I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAID. MY BOY NEEDS ALL THE HUGS AND MORE AND HE NEEDS TO BE HAPPY**

 **Saaaadly that might not happen for a while, at least :( not until he gets back up with his bros. sorry! But don't worry, he'll be happy in the end. I hope. Thanks for reviewing!**

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 **Lily Amazon, Chapter 11, Apr 27:**

 ** _A fanfic quoting Bastille can't be bad ! I really enjoyed reading your story. It's original and you master the one piece universe quite perfectly. Well, I definitely need more of it !_**

 ** _I'm quite curious about the revolutionaries and a bit worried about Sabo now that you said he won't be there for Ace in four years. His Gift, shared with Sabo, and their telepathy is intriguing too. But, yeah, I really love what you've made with the Whitebeards and well seeing Ace allowing himself to be seen weakened by Marco was quite a moving scene. They all went through a lot (and that's an understatement) and I admire Ace resolve, even though burying things deep inside only make them rot longer._**

 ** _You're doing something great here. Thanks for sharing!_**

 ** _PS: Given your One Piece World situation, say, can we hope for a happy ending ? (Hoping it won't be until a long time from now)_**

 **Wow thank you very much for the long review! I love receiving these :D and of course I had to quote bastille, their songs are incredible. And thank you! Im really glad you like what I'm doing here.**

 **Ohh yep, there are quite a lot of mysteries in this one! All of which will (hopefully) be resolved in the future. Until then, I hope you stay tuned! As for the happy ending….well, I can guarantee that it wont be for quite a while, but whether it will be happy is another story entirely. Lets just say it wont be entirely sad ;)**

 **Again, thank you for reviewing! Ily!**

* * *

 **Kurogitsune Yue, Chapter 11, May 11:**

 ** _I finally had the time to read this and OH MY GOD I missed like 6 chapters. It's a good thing though, I don't have to lie in wait for a chapter in the case of a cliffhanger then. But overall; Dang, this is still a really really good world building. This is a solid world plotting you're making here, quality solid! I probably said this a bit too much, but these are really my honest feelings. And I'm understanding more about this world! Up top!_**

 ** _I can't wait for Sabo and Ace to meet again. Though I wanted the whole 'Sabo's with the Navy' thing to be a secret and none of the revos would know (how angsty would that be tho), this is better actually. Like they say, complications complicate situations. On another note, I can't help but wonder what Luffy is doing at the moment. I don't think he's with the government- Pretty sure he busted out already and running around like usual. At least, I hope so. I would darned-tootin' smack a chair if he turned out to be a slave._**

 ** _Don't worry; the chair has no feelings._**

 ** _Anyways, I'm so glad I didn't drop this at all! Continuing to read this was a great choice- I mean, just look at all this perfection. Can't wait for the next update!_**

 **Ahhh such a nice long review from my favourite reviewer thank you sm! And im so happy that you like the world im building here! I want to apologise now for typos, Im typing this up with a laptop I'm not used to with an absolutely shite keyboard, my apologies).**

 **I can't wait for them to meet either! And though I did plan that to begin with, in order to ensure plenty of plot in the future I need to make sure that the revs know of sab. Don't worry, it will pay off in the future. As for luff (my boy…) well… he's not quite free, but not quite a slave either. Youll find out soon enough: his arc begins in chapter 16, 'Burn'. I feel sorry for him but tbh he'll be okay. Its not as bad as you're thinking!**

 **Please be gentle with the chair! I don't want to hurt a chair for a fic ;_;**

 **Thank you so much for your comments and for reviewing, it means so much! I'll try to update more regularly, that's a promise!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 12, May 17:**

 ** _YAAAAAY NEW CHAPTER ! This fic is amazing, your writing is amazing, I love this *...*_**

 ** _Wonder who that girl is. Imma re-read the chapter to see if I can guess said foreshadowing._**

 **Ah mi ami, im sorry but she's not an op character! Shes just a nameless side character I threw in to there to fill up the squad. She wont be around for much longer, sorry! But im really glad you like it, thank you!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 12, May 17:**

 ** _Loved it! I have a bad feeling though..._**

 **Yeahhhhh,… you right**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 12, May 18:**

 ** _Oh my  
Much happiness  
Such suspense  
Update soon~_**

 **Thank you for reviewing again! :D**

 **And yes, there be many emotions~ this fic is so fast-paced that that much is to be expected. Im glad you like it! And im trying to update rapidly, I hope you like the chapters im churning out**

* * *

 **UnderTakerxXxMadnesS, Chapter 12, May 18:**

 ** _Please do a Sabo POV... Please_**

 **I will I promise! Just not until chapter 15 ;_; im sorry!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 12, May 19:**

 ** _I love having time to read more of this again,I feel so proud of Ace, I really hope he'll make youngest commander, and I loved his interactions with the Whitbeards. Also, Pidge has grown so much! I can't wait to see what happens next._**

 ** _Thank you so so much for writing this._**

 **This review is so lovely im screaming**

 **Thank you! Im so glad you like it! His interactions are my favourite part to write, and im really happy that you like Pidge! Tbqh, I wasn't sure whether people would like the little dude, but he seems well received. I hope you agree with me that he's a fine little gentleman! Sorta :P**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 12, May 19:**

 ** _fuck i'm super excited, i love how this is developing and I can't wait to see where it goes?_**

 **Your reviews give me life tysm ;_; thank you! I hope you stay tuned and that you like what ive been putting out lately!**

* * *

 **So that's the replies done! *falls over* imma sleep**


	14. 1-14 - Dad

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **as always, replies are at the bottom my lovelies! I hope you enjoy this fair chapter of mine and please pray for me if you have the time: Im in the thick of my end-of-year mocks and currently running on caffiene and pure force of will. Also wanted to let you know that we're coming to the end of the Ace arc, which means that we're about a third of the way through the story. Next comes the luff arc (my boy…...) and then sab's arc. Each arc is abt 15 chapters so that should give you a vague clue as to how long this should be and what stage we're at in the story.**

 **I'm not happy with this chap, but oh well- read! Not beta'ed, we die like men**

* * *

 **Chapter 14 - Dad**

* * *

Shanks can barely keep up with all of this, if he's honest. First he and the crew come to the north to try to chase Ace, then Whitebeard actually agrees to help them (a shock, with all of the trouble they cause for the revs), then it turns out Ace is one of Whitebeard's kids. Now, Shanks and Ace are sitting in some secluded spot in the corner of the all-too-familiar entrance hall, talking about everything that has changed, and everything's still moving too fast for Shanks to process. Out of all of the things he'd expected to find in the revolutionary army, Ace was not one of them.

"Wait, so Sabo went south?! Why?"

Ace shifts uncomfortably, distinctive eyes flashing. It still shocks Shanks every time he sees him how much he's matured. "We thought he could go undercover to find Luffy, but he's had no luck yet. I-"

"How do you know that he hasn't?" Ace freezes, and that's all Shanks needs to know. "Ace, if you're corresponding with somebody from the navy- that's some risky business. More risky than you know. You know what Whitebeard does to traitors."

"Oyaji wouldn't do that!" Ace shifts uncomfortably. "I'm one of his vice commanders, going on division commander. Oyaji wouldn't kick me out before he knew the full story."

Shanks mutters something that sounds like, 'he would do more than kick you out', but doesn't say much else. "Well, if you are sending letters to Sabo – which I still think is a bad idea – can you at least tell me how he is? Is he okay? What rank is he?"

Ace glances around, as if he's trying to see whether anybody's listening in, before leaning in and muttering, "We're not quite sending letters. Shanks, do you remember what me and Sabo share?"

Shanks' mind flashes to Ace and Sabo's shared mark, and the conversation they had about it an eternity ago. "Yeah. But what does that have to do with this?"

Ace leans in further and whispers, "It's more than just a shared mark. A few weeks after we left Edgetown, me and Sabo realised that we had a… bit of a telepathy… thing. I guess. Yes, I know it sounds completely insane, and…" Ace trails off.

"I- Shit." Shanks exhales shakily, not knowing what to say. "Wait, so you can talk to him in your head right now? Does he know I'm here?! Is he okay?"

 _Tell Shanks I'm fine and I miss him and that we're sorry for worrying him,_ Sabo chips in, in a rush, obviously having thought his words through carefully beforehand. Just like Ace, he's finding it slightly hard to come to terms with, even if he isn't physically there.

"He says he's fine. He misses you and he wants we to tell you that we're sorry for worrying you," Ace parrots obediently. "He's doing okay, I guess. Rising up through the ranks quicker than either of us thought he would. There's been no luck when it comes to Luffy, though, but we're keeping our hopes up."

Shanks leans in, shooting a glance around just to make sure that nobody's listening in on them. "I've heard of two people with a shared gift before. They could control each other's abilities, act in perfect synchronisation, spent every day together. But they could never do something like you and Sabo could. You two just had to go and be scientific anomalies, didn't you?" Shanks gives a small laugh.

"I'm pretty sure most of the world can be considered a scientific anomaly right now," Ace mutters, not solemnly, and they both chuckle.

"I'm guessing that was a little alarming to find out?" he asks, weakly.

Ace considers-

* * *

 _"Sabo?" Ace looked around again. "Sabo, where are you?!"_

 ** _If you're in public and you're running around yelling my name, you're going to look like a bit of an idiot,_** _Sabo's voice said dryly._ _ **I'm in your head.**_

* * *

-And nods, saying, "You could say that."

"Okay, so you travelled north… How long did it take you to reach this place?" Shanks asks.

"It was just before my fifteenth," answers Ace grimly. "I became a division member a few months later, and a year after that I became vice second-division commander."

"Oof. So you rose up through the ranks quickly, then?"

Ace laughs. "I guess I did." Then, he leans forward in his seat. "Shanks, did you really think that all three of us died in Edgetown?"

Shanks shifts in his seat and doesn't meet the younger's eyes. His face darkens dramatically. "There wasn't any other explanation. There were no survivors of that massacre, and there was no reason why you would have left- at least, not that I knew of." He gives a small, sad laugh with no humour behind it. "But you were out in the world fending for yourself, huh? And Sabo was too, and Luffy…"

"There's still a chance that he lived," Ace tries, but even to his own ears, the excuse sounds lame.

Shanks bows his head. "Sometimes a chance just isn't enough, Ace."

Silence falls abruptly and completely, and neither breaks it for a long moment. Shanks looks like he's trying to come up with something to say to break the tense atmosphere, and after a minute or so, it seems to hit him. "You know the three kids you rescued from Loguetown? I still don't get how you knew about that before it happened," Shanks adds.

Ignoring the last part, Ace says, "Yeah? What about them?"

"Well, I've only met one of them, and she told me about you. Nami? The red-haired one?"

Ace raises an eyebrow. "Wait. Haruta - one of the others - and I met up only a couple of days back; she's around here somewhere, actually. But she told me that Nami was captured as a slave. If that's true, how did you speak to her?"

Shanks snorts self-assuredly. "I rescued her, of course! I dropped her off on an island called Kaira, and that's where I heard about you passing through there, too." Quick as lightning, Shanks pulls Ace into a headlock and musses up his hair roughly with his fist. Ace struggles half-heartedly, laughing, and Shanks says, "Already a revolutionary even then, huh? Knew you'd take after me."

"You're not even- even a revolutionary!" Ace chokes out through his laughs, jabbing his elbow into Shanks' ribcage.

Shanks withdraws his fist, grinning broadly. "Revolutionary, pirate - potato potahto. We're all trying to fight the regime, but in different ways. Only difference is that the Revs want to fight for the world, and we want to right for ourselves." Shanks lowers his voice to a whisper. "Mister Pineapple wouldn't want me to be telling you this, but people like me and my crew are becoming more and more popular around the world, especially in the west and north. We call ourselves pirates most of the time- vagabonds, renegades, whatever. Point is, you don't have to kiss the ass of the revolutionary army to fight for your freedom."

Shanks' eyes glint. "There's a new era coming, Ace, and you're in the centre of the storm."

Ace can't help the shiver that runs up his spine at these words. "So that's what you and your crew do, then. Fuck off and fight the navy, but don't try to liberate – don't try to fight for anything beyond your own interests." For the first time speaking to his father figure, a cold edge fills his voice. "Don't you care about the world?"

Shanks snorts derisively. "Of course I care about the world, But I care about myself and, more importantly, my crew, more. Listen. _Listen._ That big brain of yours is filled with ideas of dying like a martyr, right? Fighting until your last breath for freedom for the world?"

He hit the nail on the head, of course. "I'd rather die as a revolutionary than live without trying to make a difference," replies Ace in a level voice.

"Dying is easy; living is harder," Shanks says in an equally strong tone. Ace can't think of anything to parry that with – after all, the man's right, somehow.

"I'm never going to become a pirate," he eventually settles on.

"And I'm not asking you to. Just don't throw your life away just so the world can steal it from you." Shanks' eyes loose the edge of anger that lit them a few seconds ago, and he seems to deflate. "Look at everything you've done! You've saved children from certain death, freed towns, rescued people from slavery. You're the poster boy of the new generation of revs, by the looks of it. You've given so much for them already. Don't give over everything you have, okay?" Shanks gives a sad little laugh. "I've lost one son. I really don't want to lose another, Ace."

Ace meets his eyes, sliver into deep brown, for a moment. "Okay," he says eventually, nodding, bile thick in his throat. "Okay."

Shanks stays for a few days, both at the request of his old family with the revolutionaries, and Ace. The pair spend the first day, through the afternoon and into the night, catching up and talking over all that's happened in the last few years. In the evening, a letter arrives from Leo to Ace, letting him know that they've reached their destination and just have to work to find the mole now. The girl with green eyes from before – Haley, her name is – has apparently fallen ill, so they might be a little longer than usual. Leo confides in Ace that, though he hasn't told the rest of the squad, she's exhibiting most of the commonplace signs of mild poisoning.

 _I just don't understand who could have done it. All of us are extremely careful with what we eat and drink – you know that this life is hardly risk-free – and nobody could have accessed her pack to slip something into her food. At least I know that it won't kill her. Her vitals are all regular, and Bepo says that she's responsive. I just want to know what's going on here. Something doesn't feel right here, Ace_ , Leo writes in his letter.

Trying to ignore the twinge of worry he feels at this, Ace spends the next few days becoming reacquainted with Shanks' crew to distract himself from thinking about the squad. It works for the most part. They're all just as jolly and wild-hearted as always, firing stories of their recent adventures at Ace in rapid succession, and he and Benn play a long game of chess that, by its finish, has the attention of what feels like half of the revolutionaries and all of the pirates. Benn wins, but it's a close match. Soon, they all dissolve into a six-person game of Catch the Bitch, and Ace ends up with such a lucky hand that he wins with little effort.

But all too soon, Shanks has to leave. It's always too soon when it comes to Shanks.

Ace understands. The man is a free spirit, a bird with no cage and the whole world in front of him, and Shanks doesn't have that sense of responsibility that comes with being a revolutionary like Ace. He's free to do whatever he likes, live how he pleases, walk past people who have nothing without feeling like he has to help them. Ace can't even hope to stop him, to keep him here for much longer now.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Ace accepts on last hair ruffle from Shanks, standing on the end of the pier. The _East Wind_ is docked beside them as Shanks' crew file on, and Marco stands a few feet away, looking like he's trying not to intrude on the moment.

"I will see you again, right?" Ace can't stop himself from saying. "Soon, when we find Luffy, me and my brothers'll be together. And we can see you then, right?"

Shanks' face crumples at Luffy's name, but he holds his composure. "Of course you can. And as I said before, Ace, we'll always be here if you need us. For anything. The red-hair pirates are behind you, without a doubt."

Ace feels slightly touched by this, but turns away with a smirk, waving his hand. "I don't need you losers. I've got the revolutionaries behind me now, pops," he says teasingly, not really meaning it.

Shanks looks shocked for a second, but then that familiar grin extends across his face again, brighter and fiercer than before. "Sure. Well, I guess you don't need this then?"

Ace whirls back around, only to be met with the sight of Shanks spinning his cowboy hat on his finger. "Give that back- Marco gave that to me! Hey!" He lungs back across the decking and snatches it from Shanks, stuffing it back down onto his head with a small pout as Shanks roars with laughter. They smile at each other for a second, but the moment is gone.

"Well, I'll see you again sometime. Don't let Marco ground you too much," Shanks teases, before turning to walk up the steps to the _East Wind._ "See ya'."

Ace waits for Marco to catch up, walking in step with him, and doesn't look back as he walks away from the pier.

* * *

A week passes and soon, Ace begins to worry. Another letter from Leo doesn't arrive. Ace finds himself buried in an onslaught of paperwork (Marco's being an ass because of what he and Scarlet did, but it'll pass soon enough), but even that isn't enough to distract Ace from the bad feeling in his stomach. He keeps Leo's letter tucked into his pocket, right beside the sketch from the girl in Kaira, and the words won't leave his mind; _Something doesn't feel right here, Ace._

Of course, Scarlet tells him not to worry, but Ace can't help it and, eventually, she gives up, leaving Ace to his work. Marco can tell that the younger revolutionary is fretting and tries to distract him. So does Thatch, as well as Haruta and Izo. None of it does much good. The last time Ace felt this on-edge, he lost Luffy only a few hours later. He's always been one to trust his instincts, and it feels mandatory now. His nights are filled with worrying in his room, usually shared with Leo and filled with silence in the voice where the commander's loud snores and shifting should be.

It's on the eighth day that it happens.

Ace, Thatch and most of the other commanders are sitting in the main hall. It's breakfast time – not that Ace can muster the energy to eat more than a few bites. Most of the others know that Ace is cranky and worried and a million other things this week, with Shanks leaving and the lack of news from squad four, so they're acting delicately. On this particular morning, worn out, Ace is trying to melt into the table.

"You… Doing okay there, Ace?" Jozu asks in his deep voice, cautious, tiptoeing around eggshells.

Ace makes a small, pained noise of assent. "Tired," he grunts, sinking further into his chair and trying to ignore the fact that his hair is going in his eggs.

Hands brush through his hair, pulling it back and out of his food, and keeping it out of his face. With the curtain of hair gone, Ace looks up at Izou, who's wearing his best kimono. The man smiles down at him, ever-pleasant despite the fact that he probably has multiple guns under the folds of that kimono, and lightly massages Ace's skull. "Are you feeling a bit better than yesterday?"

"I guess." Ace turns his face back into the table, not wanting to admit that he's enjoying the massage, and is close to falling asleep when a familiar voice comes from the other end of the round table.

"Ace. Come with me, yoi."

Marco, despite his serious nature otherwise, has never sounded this grim when talking to Ace. The teen raises his head, curious, and meets the man's eyes. "Marco? What is it?"

Marco glances around the table, into the faces of his comrades and fellow commanders, and lets out a deep, world-weary sigh. "We've had news on division two, squad four, yoi."

Ace was out of his seat at 'news'. "What is it? Marco, why have they stopped sending letters, do you know what happened? They're coming back soon, right?!" Relief floods him. Of course they were okay all along; why did Ace even bother worrying?

Marco's face, however, stays closed. He's not smiling. "Ace, you need to come with me," he repeats. "Now."

"Okay…" Ace does as he's told, shooting a look back at the table he just left before darting after the rapidly retreating Marco. The rest of the commanders look grave and concerned. Even calm Izo is frowning deeply.

Marco leads him up the corridor and, unexpectedly, past his own office and up two floors. Ace soon deducts that there's only one place that they could be going. The communications room – the intelligence headquarters, where tactics are devised and information is compiled. The room is mostly empty, and though most of the people sitting at various tables around the room look up when Marco and Ace walk in, none meet Ace's eyes. A sinking feeling is starting to slip through Ace like a lead weight.

"Marco, what's going on?" Ace finds himself dreading the answer.

Marco takes a deep breath, then exhales. He opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out.

"Just spit it out, Marco, what happened to squad four? What happened to Leo?" asks Ace, sounding desperate.

"There was an ambush," the older man eventually manages to get out. Ace's heart stops. "An ambush from the inside. Ace…"

"Are they alive?" Ace's legs feel weak beneath him, and it's a struggle to stay upright. "Marco, _are they alive?!_ Is Leo alive?! Please just-" His throat is abruptly lodged, and the words are hard to get out. "Just tell me that they're alive."

Marco stares into his subordinate's eyes, and doesn't reply. His blue eyes are sad, full of a deep sorrow that Ace can't begin to comprehend. Just as Ace feels that he's about to lose hope, that Marco is staying silent to save him the pain of hearing the words themselves, Marco says, "They're MIA, yoi. One of your members by the name of Charlotte Pudding carried out the sabotage. The last audio we received from Commander Leo told us that he caught the traitor using a navy den-den mushi to start the ambush. What happened next is…altogether uncertain, yoi."

Ace sags, tension in his taut body releasing like a spring. "So they might still be alive?"

"Maybe." Marco tries to force a smile onto his face, but Ace isn't paying much attention to him through his own relief. The smile grows, slightly uncomfortably. "Yes. With how strong Leo is – you know that better than anybody – I'm sure they'll make it through. But for now, the code for a commander being MIA is that we need the vice to step in as commander, which means…"

"Which means that I'll be able to be a commander until Leo gets back?!" Ace grins brightly. Marco shouldn't have worried him. Leo'll be back in a few weeks at most – the man is one of those kinds of people, who seem so undefeatable and eternal that it's impossible to imagine them ever being really killed. Ace'll kick his ass for worrying him, of course (or, at the least, he'll try to). But at least one of the best friends he's ever made will be home.

"I guess, yoi." Marco, however, isn't smiling. He looks like somebody trying to keep a straight face while facing something gruesome.

"Marco?" Ace cocks his head to the side, an old habit. "Are you alive in there? You okay?"

The man seems to shake himself, and gives Ace a small smile. "Sorry, yoi, I'm fine."

Ace stares for a second later, before narrowing his eyes. "You're worried about something."

"Of course I'm not, yoi. Should we get back to the others to tell them that everything's alright, then?"

"Sure, let's go!" Ace clenches his fists determinedly. "I'll be a commander ten times better than Leo, you bet. Right?"

"Yeah, yoi," Marco says in quiet voice, and doesn't talk for the rest of the walk back.

* * *

Leo doesn't come back.

A week passes, and then another, and then a few months. Ace wonders absently, alone in his and Leo's shared dorm, what's taking so long. He makes a good commander, is told over and over by the other commanders that he's outshining all of their expectations, despite his age and relative inexperience. The second division and all of its members are happy and well looked after. Being a commander is everything Ace had dreamed for and more.

But, somehow, doing it without Leo feels daunting. The man should be back now. Ace loves being a division commander, he really does, but something horrible in his gut tells him that maybe, just maybe, Leo is truly gone for good. Ace pushes it down and pushes it down, but none of the remaining members of squad four – Leo, Kidd, Bepo and Haley – have been seen since the incident. Scarlet too, now his vice-division commander, keeps an eye out for the rest of her squad. She, Kidd and Bepo have been friends for years, and she's nothing if not affectionate towards Leo and Haley. She, like Ace, wishes that they could have stayed with the squad and helped. Maybe then, none of this mess would have started.

Neither of them mentions the guilt, but every time they hear news of a visitor, the pair make sure to check that it's not squad four. Just in case.

But time moves forward. They have to keep going. The era, just like Shanks predicted, is changing like the tides, and so is everything else. Haruta, for example, spends only a few months in training before rising to become a proud member of the twelfth division – and she's good at what she does, too. Division twelve is the scouting division, with most of its members carrying out solo missions in order to gain intel from enemy ranks. Being as small as inconspicuous as she is, the small girl fits right in, and whenever Ace sees her, there's a wide grin on her face.

Even with all that's happening with the fate of squad four, Ace stays positive. He and Sabo are closer than ever, doing their best not to argue about much, each trying to support the other even from oceans away. Sabo has found little pieces of info here and there – something about a survivor of Edgetown with black hair and a hat which he could never trace up, occasional updates on the activity of CP9, Shanks' unusual movements – but none combine to form a coherent and plausible answer. It's like, when he was taken by CP9, Luffy simply disappeared off the face of the earth.

Ace grows further, and gradually, people stop calling him 'kid'; Marco, Thatch and a few of those who've known Ace the longest don't stop by a long shot, though. He develops a new habit that he doesn't want to admit spawned from the feeling that what happened with the splitting of squad four should never be repeated. Ace stops running away. Never again, even if the fight hasn't started yet, is the man going to turn his back on a fight. He doesn't want to lose somebody like Leo again.

And life gets better. Ace is making a difference, changing the world, and it's everything he's wanted since that final day with both of his brothers.

* * *

 _So, I spent years with the revolutionaries, from when I was fourteen to when I was eighteen years old. I thought I'd changed the world- I barely made a dent. I thought Sabo would be okay- I was selfish. I was never strong to begin with. This all sounds morose as hell, doesn't it? Well let me put it this way._

 _Sabo was in my mind for four years, and when he left it, I shattered into millions of pieces. And that's what I mean about being broken._

* * *

 **I may or may not have subtextually referenced to a minor romantic infliction in this chapter, but whether you picked up on it or not is up to you. It doesn't appear again until well after chapter 45 – which is a big breaking point in the story – and even then, only briefly. As I've previously mentioned, ace ends up with nobody in this, and neither do sabo or luffy. However, ace is a teen in this, and sexual attraction, no matter how fleeting, is natural. Then again, if you decided not to notice it, then that's fine! It's not a big deal, I just thought I'd let you know. The romantic interest is most definitely not returned by the other person.**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 13, May 26:**

 ** _Oh, Haruta is back :3  
Awh, a reunion~ Shanks will probably have a few heart attacks during the story XD  
Update soon~_**

 **Your reviews never fail to make me smile! And yes, that night, shanks probably had a realisation lying in bed like…..** ** _holy fuck what happened to the bby_** **. And haruta! I love her! She's just so sweet and *flails* love me some haru**

 **I hope you liked this chapter!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 13, May 26:**

 ** _OH. MY.  
SHANKS IS BACK I can't believe it I didn't see that coming AT ALL I am so happyyyy TwT  
Well actually a little disappointed too coz at one point when Marco talked about someone who considered himself a pirate I was thinking "maybe..Luffy ?"  
I mean I know its way too early and Luffy couldn't really have joined " some years ago" but eh I still got my hopes up -_-' I. Am. Such. An. Idiot. *cries*  
Anyways CONGRATS FOR UPDATING SOO QUICKLY YOU'RE THE BEST really thank you soo much x3 My heart warmed up when I saw you had posted ch13 like I was sooo excited !  
And wooow feels coming up, I'm completely hyped over Shanks and Ace's reunion *-*  
The dude never seems to be where he has to be at the right time though -_- I mean :  
"You know that girl you love ? Well she died 8 years ago."  
"Oh and she was pregnant. You have a son."  
"About that island you left your kids on. It was bombed and nobody survived."  
"Wait one of them did. He joined the same organization as you."  
"Actually the other is now training with your enemies."  
"Aaand your son was taken by the World Government two years ago. He's probably dead. Have a nice day."  
*sighs* And why do I have that feeling that Leo's squad won't be coming back ? And that Ace is going to feel responsible for it ?.. I hope Pudding doesn't betray them or anything. I hope nobody does and everyone gets reunited and they all live happily ever after... Please ?.. ;n;  
Um, do you have an idea on how long you want to make this fic ? Could you please tell us about how many chapters there are left ?  
Thanks for the amazing work. Can't wait for more *-*_**

 **Your reviews…I cri…..thank you kind friend ily**

 **Yes shanks is back! And it would have been really cool for luff to turn up but sadly doesn't fit with the timeline :") don't worry, his arc starts in chapter 16 so youll see what the kid's been up to there!**

 **AND THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENTS. I'm trying to balance 'is this chapter updated quick enough' and 'is this chapter readable' so? I'm trying. It means a lot to me that that matters to you, thank you so much! Also shanks has The Worst luck in the world. I feel so bad for the guy ;_; As for the thing about squad four…god, you really hit the nail on the head there. Oh my god. Congrats**

 **As for length – I write 5k words per chapter, and there are going to be 60 chapters, split into four arcs, so that's about 300,000 words, ish. The chances are that after that I'll file this one and start a new project (hint: its modern au, sabo!centric and sad as hell. And I love it. And Ace isn't in any way human).**

 **Ily! Thanks again for reviewing, you're the best!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 13, May 27:**

 ** _I'm glad you liked it and how could someone not like Pidge? Anyway, so so happy to have a new chapter and what a chapter it was, I loved finding out what happened to Nami, Haruta and Zoro and that reunion between Shanks and Ace, perfection. Also I forgot last time, I checked you art, it's amazing. Thanks again for this._**

 ***struggles out of a pile of papers to hug you* I love this? thank you so much? Youre so good and kind and im just so ha pp y?**

* * *

 **gayastronaut, Chapter 13, May 27:**

 ** _aah this chapter was amazing as always!  
The reunion with ace and Shanks made me so happy. Poor Shanks can finally find out what happened to his sons. And the revelation of raft duo! Good that Haruta is finally in place where she belongs to. But Zoro joining up with enemy camp could possibly lead to him meeting certain blond head. Hmmm.. well can't wait to see how that plays out.  
but keep up the good work this fic is mind-blowing_**

 **…:D**

 **Where to start! First, yep, you've gotta feel bad for shanks. He just wants to care for his sons and his crew and fuck off and not care abt his responsibilities. I love him because he's just Relatable when it comes to this au tbh. As for zoro and blondie (*cough*the snaj*cough*)… you're not wrong. But you're not completely right either. I mean, the show itself does have one notorious trio, so just add one more and you've got….**

 ***sips tea* I've said too much**

 **Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 13, May 28:**

 ** _YES OH MY GOD THE REUNION WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (well besides the obvious) I AM CRYING I AM SCREAMING MY DEPRESSION IS CURED MY SKIN IS CLEAR MY HARVEST IS BOUNTIFUL I AM BLESSED_**

 **IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKE IT MY FRIEND. ILY. I HOPE THE REUNION WAS TO YOUR SATISFACTION, EVEN IF I ADDED A LIL BIT OF CONFLICT. I HOPE YOU LIKED THIS AHHHHHH**

 **THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING**

* * *

 **Kawaii Snowdrop, Chapter 13, May 29:**

 ** _I love this fic so so much, it's easily the best I've read in a loooong time. I adore how you've taken the One Piece world, chopped and changed it and then put a sort of gritty determination at the core; it makes it seem much more realistic while keeping the strange details that made me fall in love with the show in the first place, such as the powers. I get the feeling that the only way Luffy survived is if the CP9 desert him on an island and he's left to forge a path for himself or if they adopted him into their ranks, which I think would be highly interesting as being a member of a group like that at first glance seems completely against the character's personality. I'm honestly so intrigued and I hope so badly that you'll never abandon this story - so many good ones never reach completion. All in all, you should totally write professionally but until then I'll wait patiently for the next chapter :)_**

 **When I first saw this review I was at a bus stop and made this high-pitched noise of excitement and happiness and got glared at by like four people…..rip**

 **Anyway! Thank you so much! Im so happy that you like what I've done with the world, I was scared that people wouldn't like it so this is really reassuring. As for luff….one of your ideas is a little bit right. If you want a clue, check out the reply further up gayastronaut's review ;)**

 **Don't worry, I definitely wont abandon this – I love it too much! Thanks for reviewing, ily!**

* * *

 **why is it always like 3am when I finish this shit…..lmao I'm going to sleep**


	15. 1-15 - Scattered to the Winds

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **THE FINAL CHAPTER IN THE ACE ARC. SOON, WE MOVE ONTO LUFF. I FEEL SO HAPPY. WE'RE A QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH. If anybody didn't know, the arcs are each 15-ish chapters long and they go ace, luff, sab, then the final arc which is kinda all three.**

 **If you don't understand what happens to Ace in this chapter, or don't understand what he's going through, or think he's overreacting, just remember – his mind has been hard-wired into one setting, one way of thinking, one neurobiological typicality for years and years. To have that change overnight, as well as feel sure that his brother is dead, is nothing if not heartbreaking and world-shaking. he has what is, in essence, a short-term psychological breakdown. With this loss and change in neurotypicality, this much is easily expected of him. if you feel like he's being a big baby, or overreacting, the chances are you're heartless.**

 **Onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 15 – Scattered to the Winds**

* * *

Ace's head hits the table for the sixth time since they sat down, and Marco decides firmly that enough is _enough_. Even for somebody with narcolepsy – a condition that first said hello late last year – Ace is falling asleep ridiculously often tonight. The eighteen-year old has had an exhausting week, training up some of the newer members of his division for long hours every day, and though Thatch finds it hilarious to see the younger man drooling on the table, it has to come to an end at some point.

"Ace, yoi. _Ace_." Marco reaches across to shake him, but Ace doesn't stir. Thatch snorts, but manages to muffle the sound into his hand when Marco shoots him a glare.

The chef mutters something that sounds like, "Four years later and you still act like he's your son."

"You're still acting like an imbicile after twenty years but I'm not complaining, yoi," Marco shoots back, without even looking up.

Thatch puts a hand over his own chest in mock outrage. "Mister Pineapple! So prickly today!"

Ace jerks awake, almost smashing the back of his head into Jozu, who's sitting next to him. "Marco was born prickly," he mutters sleepily. Thatch howls with laughter at the look on Marco's face and the others are quick to join in.

"Ace, yoi, you're going to sleep. _Now_." It doesn't take much more than that for Ace to pull himself together and drag himself out of his seat, yawning and stretching. Today he's forgone a shirt and Bay, who's here on a routine visit to HQ, wolf-whistles teasingly from a nearby table.

"Yeah, yeah." Ace waves her off, turning slightly red, and turns to Marco. "Yeah, you overgrown mother hen, I know. I'll get some sleep." Turning to Thatch, the teen says, "Thanks for the food!"

"No prob-lem-o." Thatch grins, and the other commanders wave as Ace turns to make his way to his room.

The walk feels longer than usual, probably due to his fatigue. When Ace enters his room, it's dark outside and he doesn't bother to turn on the light, just stripping down to his shorts, setting his boots and hat to the side of his bed and climbing into bed. Pidge, who was here before he arrived, curls into Ace with a soft coo, seeping warmth. He's large enough to take up nearly all of the bed now, nearly as long as Ace is when lying down, and sort of like a warm, feathery mattress. It's insane to think that Pidge used to be small enough to fit into one hand. Sabo wishes him a sleepy goodnight, just dropping off, and Ace lies in the darkness for a few minutes, staring into space.

Leo's bed is still empty, pristine, and his things are packed into a box beside it. Ace has given up hope now, virtually. Leo and Luffy were unbeatable, eternal and hard to imagine life without, but both are gone and the chances are, both are dead. But still, he can't bring himself to move Leo's things, and Scarlet stays in her old dorm with the other female members of the second division. Ace sleeps with only Pidge and Sabo for company now, like he did at the beginning of all of this. It's nice, in a way.

Sleep doesn't come easily, but it comes. Sabo is an ever-present force in his mind – even when he's sleeping, Ace can feel him there, and it's enough. Ace couldn't imagine living without that presence after all this time.

Sleep comes, and it's deep and uninterrupted.

But all too soon, somebody is shaking Ace's shoulders, and his head is rolling with the nausea of waking. Immediately, without opening his eyes, he knows that something is terribly, irrevocably _wrong._ At some point in the night, Pidge must have rolled off the bed – Ace can't feel him. His mind feels like it's moving too slowly. Something's wrong. Something's broken.

He shoots up in bed, nearly slamming into Scarlet, who looks startled. She was evidently the one trying to wake him. Outside, the sun is high in the sky.

"Ace…are you okay?" Scarlet asks cautiously, taking half a step away from the bed. Ace realises absently that his eyes are impossibly wide. Something's missing.

 ** _Sabo_**.

So fast that Scarlet flinches, Ace swings his legs out of bed and runs into the bathroom. Vomit rises in his throat. He barely reaches the toilet in time, knees giving out, and throws up everything that's in his stomach. Ace's chest heaves uncontrollably, bile stinging the back of his throat like magma. He can feel Scarlet holding his hair back, rubbing his back, and dizziness hits him like a cannonball. Pidge gives a mournful coo from his side, trying to offer comfort. Ace heart sinks into his stomach.

Sabo is simply- gone. That presence he knows so well, always there so Ace never felt that same loneliness he's terrified of, abolished as if he'd never been there to begin with. Was he ever there in the first place? Did Ace dream up some stupid imaginary brother to help him deal with all of this, when in reality, Sabo had died after leaving dawn island. Even when asleep, Sabo was there. Ace could feel him, hear snippets of thought even when he was dreaming; hell, Sabo controlled his ability to use his fire.

And now it's like he was never there to begin with.

Ace doesn't realise that his eyes are filling with tears until they start to sting – tears of frustration, anger, grief, pain from the tearing in the back of his throat. He retches and heaves over the toilet bowl until his stomach is completely empty, nausea taking over all semblance of rational thought in his head. At some point, Scarlet leaves, and he knows that she'll be back soon, probably with Marco, Thatch or one of the nurses. He can't bring himself to move, limp against the cold tiles, calling desperately to Sabo in his mind over and over again. After a while, Ace realises that he's saying his brother's name out loud without meaning to, muttering it under his breath. Pidge is a warm weight against his side – what would have been comforting any other time now makes Ace fell unbalanced and too warm for comfort.

Marco's hands land on his shoulders, and Ace starts. Above him, the man's eyes are creased with concern, and he kneels down to meet Ace's eyes. "Ace, yoi. Can you hear me?"

Ace tries to clear his head, and the panic flooding him lessens ever so slightly. "Y-Yes," he manages to stutter out. "When did you get in here?"

"Not long ago," tries Marco, but it's obvious that he's lying. Ace tries to prop himself up on the sink, but his legs feel like jelly – it takes the joint help of Marco and Thatch, who seems to appear out of nowhere, to get him to his feet. The tiles are freezing against his bare feet. Ace tries to blink the darkness out of his eyes, and every movement around him seems to be blurred and too rapid, every noise too loud.

Somebody says, "How many fingers am I holding up?" A hand holding up three fingers appears in front of Ace's face, and he mutters the answer through a mouth that feels like it's filled with cotton wool. Marco slips his arm around Ace's back just to keep him upright.

"Let's take him to the infirmary, yoi."

Ace, however, pushes away from the arms trying to hold him up. Thatch, Marco and Scarlet stare back, surprised. The sun streaming through the bathroom window is hot on Ace's back. He coughs out the last of the bile in his throat. "I'm okay. I'm fine. I just need a rest."

"Did you eat something bad?" Thatch asks, looking anguished at the thought. For all of his charisma and joking around, Thatch would be mortified to find out that he'd poisoned one of his friends, especially Ace.

Ace shakes his head, and even that small movement sends his head reeling. Did he bang his head on the bathroom wall when he was throwing up? Reaching up, the teen searches his scalp with his fingers, and winces when his fingers land on a lump on the back of his head. When he pulls them back, they're bloody.

"Ace, what is-"

Abruptly, like he's been shot in the head, Ace's eyes roll back and he feels his body crumple to the floor.

* * *

Day one in the infirmary. Ace has a concussion, and not a mild one. Old man Herr, the head doctor, has ordered Ace to stay for a couple of days. He knows, Ace can tell, that this is caused by more than just a concussion. That something has gone horribly wrong in Ace's mind. His emotions fly in every direction constantly. He mourns, feels an unimaginable grief he can barely comprehend. There's no way that Sabo is alive – either he died in the night, or he was never alive to begin with. He gets angry, rages at the world, rages at Sabo for leaving, even though he knows that it wasn't his fault. He wishes with all of his heart that he'd never met Sabo in the first place.

The nurses are distant and don't meet Ace's eyes. Ace can hear the whispers outside the infirmary door – his name reaches his ears in hisses and murmurs over and over and eventually he becomes numb to it, letting the sound wash over him, staring at the ceiling. Pidge isn't allowed in the infirmary now. There are some division members who are seriously injured across the room, and they can't risk infection from animals. Missing both Sabo and Pidge, Ace lies still and tries to sort through all the thoughts and emotions buzzing through his mind.

Day two in the infirmary. It's no longer about the concussion. Old man Herr plays therapist, giving Ace a small pocket notebook, telling him to write everything down. Ace sets it down on the counter, hoping he'll never get around to using it. Marco and Thatch visit at noon, and Ace tries to talk to them, tries to engage them, but he can tell that all they're thinking about is their worry. All of his anger is gone. Ace just wishes for his brother back, his _brothers_ back. His mind is captivated by daydreams of simpler times. He wishes for youthfulness, yearns for the dusty kingdom that was Edgetown, feels an insatiable longing to have back what he's been missing all these years.

Day three. Ace sleeps away the day, tries to stand to go down to the hall four times, fails every time. Why bother? He gave everything as a kid to protect his brothers and they're gone. He cared about Leo, and he's gone too. Shanks if off on the wild, free ocean, living as he pleases, as Ace mourns in a hospital bed. Why bother trying to protect people, when this is how it ends?

Ace writes, but as time goes on and the story gets further on and on, he loses momentum. His paragraphs grow more and more undetailed, more vague, more messy. He tries to summon his fire at some point, as the punchline to a fire-related joke one of the nurses shoots him, but it doesn't work and the conversation ends in a tense, awkward silence that stretches on for too long.

Day four. Ace decides that enough is enough.

He can't sit in here forever. He can't lose hope. So many people – Haruta, Leo, Oyaji, Luffy – have shown Ace how important that is. If there's a chance, just one chance, that Luffy and Sabo are still alive, Ace has to chase it. All else be damned. They're his brothers, and life nor death nor everything in between can change that.

Ace waits until sundown, until the doctors and nurses retire, and then slips out from under the covers under the shroud of darkness. He makes no sound, and only pauses to look back at his bedside table, where his notebook rests. A sudden rush of paranoia seizes the teen, and he picks it up and slips it into his pocket, before padding across the room to the door. Outside, the corridors are shrouded in thick shadow, and Ace eases the door closed behind him, wincing as the hinges creak loudly into the silence.

Suddenly worried that he was overheard, Ace sneaks up the corridor like a shadow, and doesn't pause until he reaches his room. When he gets inside, Ace is immediately smothered by an overly-affectionate phoenix, and he holds Pidge close to his chest even as he makes frantic shushing noises. Eventually, after much prompting, Pidge clambers out of his arms with a soft chirp, and Ace rushes over to his bed, grabbing his boots, hat and bag. Throwing everything on as quickly as he can, the commander's mind plays tricks on him – he thinks he can hear boards creaking, people yelling for him, realising that the nutcase got out.

Bag over his shoulder, Ace is about to leave his room when he glances over to Leo's bed. At its foot sits a small box which he packed himself almost two years ago now. On impulse, he walks over and opens it, fingers shaking slightly. Inside lies Leo's old jacket – the one replied to trainees, with a distinctive leather collar – and a string of red beads that also belonged to him. Ace stares at them for a long moment, shrouded in moonlight. He can smell vomit from the bathroom, as nobody has bothered to clean up his mess in there.

If Ace is going to do this, he needs to be strong. Leo is one of the strongest people he's ever known – not only in his physical strength or his battle skill, but everything that he did. He held himself like somebody you wouldn't want to be alone with in the dark, talked like somebody who, in a past life, had been so well-versed in the revolutionary apocalypse that he knew the gruesome routine of it like the back of his hand. Even if he and Ace only knew each other for a year or two, Ace can easily say that he admired Leo even more than people like Marco at times, more than anybody.

Without paying thought as to why he's doing it or what all of this means, Ace slips on the jacket and puts the red beads around his neck.

Turning to Pidge, who is waiting patiently across the room, Ace says, "I'll be right back, Pidge, there's one more thing I have to do."

Without exactly waiting for a reply, Ace grabs the notebook and pen out of his pocket and rips out a page, before taking off again. He knows very well that he could be quieter, but time is running out. Soon, his absence will be noticed. As he jogs, Ace hurriedly scrawls a note onto the paper before throwing the pen aside and increasing his pace to a run, not stopping until he reaches Marco's office. He's about to open the door to leave the note inside when he realises, with a thrill of horror, that there are voices coming from inside.

"It was the name 'Sabo' he was saying, I'm sure, yoi," Marco is saying. Ace presses his ear against the door. "Over and over. I've never seen Ace like this, even when he first came, even after the…incident with squad four. Something happened four nights ago to make him like this, and I intend to find out what, yoi. But there's no need for drastic measures."

Ace holds his breath, trying not to make a sound. The other voice says, Jozu's, says, "Herr called it a minor spontaneous psychological breakdown, whatever that means. Basically, something happened to Ace and none of us can do anything to stop him from looking like somebody just kicked his puppy."

"Don't trivialise this, yoi."

"I'm not trying to. You have to know that none of us like this, Marco, none of us chose for this to happen. It's killing his division not to have him around. Half of the army reckon he's popped it, he's gone nuts, but it's something deeper than that, isn't it?" Marco doesn't answer. "That's what I thought. Look, I hate to say this, Marco, but if he doesn't start to recover from whatever this is soon… Scarlet will have to take over. No, we won't toss him to the curb. We'd never do that. But Ace can't run a division as he is now, and you know better than anybody that this is an army, Marco. A _system_. You're usually the most staunch about this, but now that it's Ace, you seem to want to bend all of the rules. I know you care about the kid, but at the end of the day, he's eighteen. If he gets demoted, he gets demoted, and he'll have to work his way back up."

"It's been four days!"

"And it could be forty more for all we know, and then what, Marco?" Jozu asks in a cold voice. "You've already kept official information from the kid just to save his feelings, and we all know that that's going to end in a trainwreck. You can't let your sympathy cloud your judgement."

Marco has quiet rage in his voice. "You think you know what you're doing to a further extent than me, yoi?" he asks quietly. It's Jozu's turn to remain quiet. "Get out."

"But-"

"I said _get out._ And don't try to tell me that I don't know how to run an army again. I will deal with Ace, and you'll get your head out of your diamond-encrusted ass, got that?" Marco speaks quietly, but something burns in his voice so dangerous that Ace knows he has only a few seconds until Jozu opens the door.

Ace waits for an idea to hit him, desperately trying to find a way out of this, but nothing occurs to him. As seconds tick past, Ace decides to throw caution to the wind and run. As he turns and flies off up the corridor, throwing caution to the wind, the door opens behind him and he can see his shadow in the light flooding from the doorway, darting along the wall in time with him. Jozu yells out something incomprehensible, and Ace knows that his cover's been blown, pushing his speed and skidding through dark corridor after dark corridor, barely able to hear anything over the pounding of his heart in his ears.

He slams into somebody on the second floor, only a few corridors from his room, and knocks them to the floor. "Ah! Ace?!" they yelp from the ground, but he ignores them in favour of regaining momentum, almost falling over his own feet in his haste. The walls themselves blur into one big colour, the only thing that's real in the world being the pounding of Ace's feet on the floor.

He slams into his room and is across it in half a second, throwing open the window onto a sharp drop, Pidge squawking in surprise. Turning to the bird even as the commotion rises only a few corridors away, Ace says, "I know we haven't exactly practiced this, bud, but we don't have much of a choice. Do you think you can carry me on your back while flying?"

Pidge gives a determined little chuff, as if to say, _of course he can_. For the first time in days, Ace cracks a smile, but the moment is broken by approaching footsteps just a corridor away. "C'mon!" Ace hisses, and Pidge skitters over and clambers out of the window, just managing to pop out and clinging to the wall with his long talons as Ace climbs out, making sure to grab his bag first, and onto his strong back. Then, just as the door to Ace's room slams open, Ace latches the window and he and Pidge take off into the dark.

The feeling of exhilaration is incredible. Ace has to let out a whoop, wind streaming through his hair, as Pidge shoots into the sky like a bullet. It takes everything he has just to cling on. Looking over his shoulder, Ace watches his home of four long years melt into the dusk behind him, flying into the last place the sun was seen, chasing the light of day. It's amazing, more so than anything Ace can imagine feeling.

 _This is incredible, isn't it, Sabo?!_ he thinks, throwing his hands back and clinging on with his legs only, feeling the bitter cold wake up every cell in his body.

And nobody answers, of course.

Slowly, Ace lets his hands drop. He can feel the smile dripping from his face like melted ice. Fisting his hands into Pidge's feathers, feeling his eyes water with the wind and everything else churning inside him, Ace whispers, "Goodbye trailblazer, hello older brother."

* * *

 **END OF PART 1**

* * *

 **Shorter chap today, mostly cause this is sort of an epilogue to this arc. And ace is off! Wish him luck, he'll need it ;_;**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 14, 14h ago:**

 ** _Papa Shanks is and will forever be worried for his sons XD  
I laughed when I re-imagined Ace looking mental in public while trying to communicate with Sabo  
Oh nO LEO ;A; THERE ARE NO HINTS AS TO WHETHER HE IS OKAY OR NOT  
What. That end tHO. SABO?!  
Update soon~_**

 **Of course he will lmao. He's such a dork. And yes, ace is an idiot and I love him too. And now that's something I really want to draw (if I have the time. *flops over*)**

 **Leo…..well, you haven't heard the end of him. sorta. AND SAB. POOR SAB. HE'S NOT DEAD, IT'S WORSE. I HOPE YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER :D**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 14, 6h ago:**

 ** _*returns the hugh* I love Ace's interaction with Shanks when they're saying goodbye, I felt like Ace has 2 families one with his brothers and Shanks and another with the revs and it made me so happy.  
I'm getting ready for the POV change, I'm going to miss Ace but I really want to know what you have planned for Luffy. Thanks for the quick update_**

 **Huh, I never saw it like that but that's actually really accurate! He does! And they both love him v much. As for the POV change….i just hope you like it. Nobody has accurately predicted what happened to luff yet, but some have been close.**

 **I hope you liked it! *hugs***

* * *

 **Kurogitsune Yue chapter 14 . 2h ago**

 ** _Ace: Okay so- I'm not gonna run away no more, nu-uh. I don't want to lose anyone again.  
Sabo: *gone*  
Ace, y u gotta do dis to yoself  
Last two paragraphs hurts my heart so bad, cause I thought even when squad four's kinda gone at the moment, everything's kinda okay and peachy, 'life is getting better' and all that jazz. No. If my thoughts are correct then Sabo is. Um. Yeah. At best, I'd suspect he's just MIA, lost his memory along the way and not err...dead. That would suck. Well, for him. Haha, I'm totes fine with angst-  
Things are getting interesting by the way! Not that it wasn't interesting before, but I can sense the plot is moving now. Like an arc that's about to begin. Ahhh, I just cannot wait to read the next update! Oh but don't stress yourself out, k? Just take it easy and don't rush.  
That said, good job on this chapter and I cannot wait to read the next one! Much loves uvu_**

 **That's so accurate lmao :') I feel so bad for ace**

 **I'm glad you think the plot is moving forward! Thank you! And im also happy you liked my contrast, I wasn't sure but im glad somebody did!**

 **And don't worry, Im not stressed, I just love writing this! and I don't have much spare time to do so ;_; oh well. Im glad you like it!**

* * *

 **Please remember to review!**


	16. 2-1 - Burn

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **let the new arc begin….the fate of luff has been revealed after all this time. Kinda. Or rather, I'll throw exposition at you and slowly reveal how fucked up everything is by creating a Traitor Character™ at the end of the arc.**

 **What do you mean? *whistles* I never said anything**

* * *

 **Chapter 16 – Burn**

* * *

On the coast, a few miles outside of any form of civilisation, a thin, tall building perches near the edge of a sea-worn cliff, buffeted by warm, wet tropical winds. The sea around it is a churning, iron-grey universe. Hot southern winds stir up the beginnings of a thunderstorm in the clouds high above, and the sun has only recently set, the sky still just as grey as the ocean beneath. Though it's hard to spot through the dusk, a few hundred metres from the shoreline, a small fishing boat bobs on the waves, tossed this way and that by the oncoming storm, barely staying upright. Out of its three occupants, two are running this way and that, adjusting the sails and trying valiantly to keep the ship floating in the right direction. The last, having had no experience with sailing beyond playing games as a child, sits precariously on the bow of the ship, legs wrapped around the wood, impossibly close to falling into the ocean.

Neither of the other two occupants of the boat look particularly worried about him – on the contrary, they're wrapped up in insulting each other, hurling meaningless insults over the tumult of the sea. It's mindless noise, really - a routine they're all far too used to. But it's comforting, at the very least. This trio have been together for a handful of long years, and in this new place – free, for the first time in years, to roam the seas – the sense of routine is reassuring.

One of the two arguing glances over at their other member, still perched on the long bow of the boat. He sighs in exasperation, whipping sweat off his brow. "Oi, Luffy, you're gonna fall into the ocean y'know. And you can't swim."

"One of you'll fish me out!" Even without turning around, it's obvious that the boy is grinning by the smile in his voice.

The third teen stretches, muffling a yawn. "I'd rather not take a swim just for your sorry ass, idiot." Despite his harsh words, all three boys know that he doesn't really mean them. It's all part of the routine.

His rival snorts. "Priss."

"Oi, what was that?!" The third teen, blond hair wet with ocean dew, leans forward threateningly.

"I said-"

"Hey, guys!" Luffy suddenly yells, breaking them out of their argument, leing forwards so far that he nearly topples into the waves. "Look, we're going off course!" He laughs gleefully, as if that's the revelation of the year.

"Damnitt. This isn't over, shitty marimo."

"Yeah, yeah," Zoro says, rolling his eyes as he darts to readjust the sails. "I'll kick your ass later, curly brow."

As Sanji silently steams, both seventeen-year olds work to steer their small ship to shore and Luffy continues to sit, staring into the distance. As his eyes land on the thin, tall building silhouetted against the sky high above him, his brow furrows slightly, something flashing through his eyes that isn't seen often when it comes to people like Luffy.

Soon enough, they reach shore and it takes a group effort to tether their small boat to the slippery rocks. The sky above rumbles darkly, and Zoro and Luffy exchange furtive looks at the sound for a split second. Sanji pretends not to notice that they edge slightly nearer to one another, nor the tenseness that appears in Luffy's shoulders. None of them speak. They're sticking to old routines, as always, and this is the most familiar by far.

"You didn't explain why you even wanted to come here in the first place, you know," Sanji grumbles, if only to change the subject, as the trio start to trek up the steep incline towards the building.

"Oh yeah." Luffy laughs. "You know before I came to base 49, I was one of the experimentees?"

Zoro and Sanji both seem to shift uncomfortably. Though Luffy obviously doesn't seem bothered by mentioning it, neither of them wants to remember what things were like when they first met him. Still, Zoro answers, "Yeah, where you got your rubber power. Why?"

"Well, this is where I came from. This base."

Sanji almost falls down a couple of rocks, stumbling in his surprise. "Wait, seriously?! Then why would you want to come back here?! What they did to you here, you-"

Zoro stomps hard on Sanji's foot to shut him up, and Luffy doesn't seem to notice. The fifteen-year old continues, "There's somebody here I said I would come back for someday when they sent me to base 49."

"Were you born near here, then?" Zoro asks. Neither of them knows much about Luffy's past before the experimentation, though Zoro would have guessed from his appearance that he was from the east. "I wouldn't be surprised if they tested the blood of all the kids near here, just to make sure they aren't type X."

Luffy wrinkles his nose, speeding up as the incline steepens. "Nah. I came from the east."

The revelation is new, and Zoro and Sanji glance at each other over Luffy's shoulders. Sanji asks cautiously, "Then how did you end up… You know." He coughs. "Here. Being turned into a mut in some naval science lab."

Luffy shrugs, as if he can't be bothered to remember that far back. "There was an incident with me and my brothers when I was ten and some weird ass-people thought I was a criminal. And then they realised I wasn't and they found out I have type X blood and then they sent me here and then I got turned all rubber 'n stuff and then they sent me to base 49 and then I met you and then-"

Zoro snorts, cutting in, "We know the rest, Luffy. And, 'ass-people'?" He'd known that Luffy had brothers, but not about anything else past the fact that he had once been an experimentee.

"I don't know. Ass people. Ass-ass people. Something like that." Luffy shrugs, looking largely uninterested. The ground is starting to level out now, and as the darkness of the ensuing night starts to wrap around the island, the trio of teenagers approach the building. They stay out of sight of the entrance by silent agreement, where there are most likely guards and, more dangerously, marines. The thing that none of them want, the thing they'll do anything to keep from happening, is beign sent back to base 49.

"Okay, plan?" Sanji cracks the bones in his fingers, face a mask of determination, as they reach an alcove in the side of the round building, hiding in the thick cloak of dusk.

Luffy looks between his two companions, and shrugs. "I dunno. I just wanna get Chopper out."

Zoro grins ferally, in preparation for a fight, the three swords at his side glinting in the dull light. "Okay, so how about you go find your friend and me and the perv try to create a distraction. How long do you think it's going to take?"

"Don't know. Last time, we were both on the fifth floor together, and climbing up there might take a while…" Luffy hums in consideration.

Sanji observes the structure of the building for a second, before it hits him. "They used to have one of these near base 49, before you two arrived. Some rebels tried to blow it up one time by triggering thermals which were already built into the foundations, but it only really destroyed some of the lower levels and made a lot of noise. If we did that, do you think you'd be able to get your friend in the confusion?"

Luffy perks up. "That's great! Thanks Sanji!"

"No problem, idiot. Marimo, you still got the matches?"

"Of course, curly bastard."

"Alright!" Luffy pounds one of his fists into the other with a grin and, not for the first time, Zoro takes a second to raise an eyebrow at how damn scary Luffy can look at times. It shocks him a little every time he sees that glint in the kid's eyes, because it seems close to impossible that the scared kid he met all that time ago is here, now, as strong as he is. Before Zoro can get a good look, however, the moment is broken. Luffy steps back and throws back his arm, as if preparing to throw a fist. Before he lets it fly, he turns and shoots a huge grin to his friends, teeth glinting in the dusk.

Letting his fist fly forward, Luffy gives a small whoop as his arm extends and extends and keeps on going until it latches onto a windowsill a few metres up. Letting the momentum of his arm pull him up, Luffy grabs onto the side of the building like a monkey and doesn't look back as he starts to climb.

Zoro and Sanji don't look at each other as they make their way around the circumference of the building, hitting the jackpot when they find a small opening in the wall that leads downwards. The steep, low tunnel is lined with moss, slippery with dew from the humidity of the southern climate. The south, warm and wet, is like a horrible mix of the worst aspects of eastern weather – and Zoro hates it. A lot of the time, here, it feels like you can't breathe. Sanji, born in the west but having lived here since he was seven or eight, is used to it, but often reminisces about the constant winds and hurricanes of his birthplace to Luffy when he thinks Zoro isn't listening. That's just about the only thing he mentions about his life before the navy.

Running alongside the blonde, Zoro shoots him a glance and lets his mind wander to when he first met the two other teens.

* * *

 _Zoro gives a low growl, trying to sound his most intimidating, and the man holding his arms back gives a low grunt of a laugh. "Look at this lad, boys! Thinks 'e's a big man, this 'un does."_

 _"Let go of me, you coward!" Zoro lashes out with his foot but even though it clips the large man leg, it doesn't do more than make him wince slightly. "Let me out!"_

 _"Wanna get back to your little girlfriend out there, eh?" the man holding him jeers, and the other men cackle along._

 _Zoro's face burns. "Please, she's really young, we just wanted to stick together! Why the hell would you want to leave some little kid out there alone?! Let me-" His voice cracks as the man behind him yanks on his arms harder, surely leaving bruises. "Let me go._ Please _."_

 _"You chose to come here, you're staying." The man gives Zoro's arms one last sharp tug before letting go, sending the green-haired thirteen year old to the ground with a yelp. Zoro crouches there for a second, tears of pain and frustration burning in his eyes, before somebody yanks him to his feet and a surprisingly young voice says, "I'll take him to the other recruits, sir!"_

 _A low snort. "No loiterin' then, brat."_

 _Before Zoro can process what's going on, the person clinging to his arm walks towards a set of doors at the end of the room at a fast march. He has no choice but to follow. They look as small as him, maybe younger, but their grip on his arm is strong. Together, the pair walk out of the doors, before the other breaks into a run and Zoro follows suit. The corridors of this building, a southern border immigration checkpoint (or, in essence, a naval recruiting base), are long and straight, and lit by sparodic candles. Zoro doesn't know how long they run, but relatively soon, they reach a small alcove in the wall – obviously unused – and the other kid pulls him in._

 _As soon as they're hidden from outside view, Zoro yanks his arm away with a scowl. "Who the hell are you?!"_

 _He finally gets a chance to look at the other kid properly. The kid has blonde hair covering one of his eyes, the other bright blue, and his one visible eyebrow is strangely curled at the end. He's wearing a naval uniform, obviously slightly too large, over his skinny frame. He looks around Zoro's age, maybe a little younger. And he's glaring fiercely._

 _"You're welcome, asshole, for saving you from Mulligan and the others! He would've torn you apart!"_

 _"Who says I want to be saved?!"_

 _"What kind of a question is that?!"_

 _Zoro doesn't answer, instead turning away and huffing, crossing his arms. There's a long moment of awkward silence, before the blonde kids gives an irritated sigh and steps forward. Zoro raises an eyebrow when he extends his hand._

 _He looks between the kids hand and face. "What?"_

 _Blondie gives another huff of annoyance. "I'm Sanji." Zoro's eyebrows raise further, and Sanji rolls his bright blue eyes. "You're meant to shake my hand, asshat."_

 _"Oh." Zoro tries to look as uncaring as he can as he reaches across to shake Sanji's hand, squeezing tight enough that he knows it'll sting. "I'm Zoro."_

 _"Where're you from?" Sanji asks. "Why did you come here?"_

 _Zoro tries to choose his words carefully but once he starts talking, it's hard to stop. "The east. It's chaos there now, I guess. Me and my friend came here for refuge, but they left her outside of the walls." Zoro shakes his head. "What about you?"_

 _"I've been here for five years. The navy took me from the west." Sanji looks down at the floor. "I had to leave one of my siblings behind, too."_

 _Zoro wants to ask, 'what happened to the others', but doesn't feel like he wants to know the answer. Trying to change the subject, he stands and offers Sanji a small grin, rough but genuine. "Wanna stick together?"_

 _Sanji rolls his eyes, but smiles in return ."I guess."_

* * *

 _The day starts like any other. Rough endurance training, scraps of food, aches and pains in places Zoro hadn't known existed. There's no room for sympathy here. However, when lunch finally arrives, Sanji grabs his arm and pulls him over to a window in the mess hall. "Look," he whispers, pointing to a slow procession moving up the street below. There are three horse-pulled cargo carriages, covered so their interior can't be seen. Aside from the procession, nobody is in the streets outside of naval base 49 today._

 _"What's the big deal?"_

 _"'What's the big deal', he says." Sanji looks pointedly at the carriages. "Those carriages hold the muts who have 'combative' powers. New recruits."_

 _"You lost me at muts."_

 _Sanji watches the procession trail up the street and out of sight before the pair return to the their seats and he starts to explain. "The government here – they aren't the most…" He lowers his voice. "Moral. They want to create superhumans. Mutants – or muts, to us. So they set their scientists on people and see what they can do. The only thing is, they can't experiment on everybody. Only people with a particular blood type can be genetically altered in the way they want to; people with an X blood type, or the X component in their DNA. I don't know all of the details. But if an experiment is successful and somebody ends up with some kind of power, they have to be handed over to the navy if their power is considered 'combative'. Those people are the ones who are in those carriages."_

 _Sanji scoffs, all that info outloaded. "I can't believe nobody's walked you through all that yet, marimo. Probably thought you couldn't understand."_

 _"Like you're one to talk, curly-browed bastard!" Zoro huffs, turning back to his to food, only to find that somebody has taken it, as is common in this damn place._

* * *

 _The muts aren't anything like Zoro had expected. He has expected hulking men with bulging muscles, shooting lasers and melting metal. He didn't expect a handful of scared-looking kids in rags, eyes wide and ringed with the darkness of insomnia, cheeks hollow. They don't look in any way 'combative', no matter how you look at them. One, the smallest of all with wide, distinctly curious eyes and a curved scar under his eye, ends up in Zoro and Sanji's bunker – in fact, he ends up sleeping in the sunk just above Zoro's. Zoro can hear his raspy, youthful breathing at night. He can't be more than eleven or twelve, and neither Zoro nor Sanji can guess his power._

 _One night, only a few days after the muts first arrive, Zoro wakes up to the sound of a thunderstorm outside. Every few seconds, thunder strikes up a loud, low roll, and lightning shoots through the bunker like fire. In fact, the sound of the thunder nearly drowns out the small sobs coming from the bunk above Zoro; but not quite. The minutes tick by, with no end coming to the storm, nor the noises coming from above. Eventually, Zoro gives up on ignoring them._

 _As quietly as he can, Zoro slips out of his own bunk and heaves himself with his arms up onto the one above. At first, the other boy doesn't appear to notice him, curled up into a small, quivering mass the centre of the bed. After a few seconds, however, he jumps and whispers, "What are you doing up here?" His voice is thick with tears, and sounds very young._

 _"You're crying and keeping me awake," Zoro whispers back. "What's wrong?"_

 _The mut sniffs forlornly. "My brothers used to tell me everything was going be okay when there was thunder. I-I want-" He buries his face in his knees, body heaving with the force of his choking sobs. "I want my brothers back. Can I have my brothers back?"_

 _Despite himself, Zoro feels a little compassion stir in his chest towards the smaller boy and, on impulse, squeezes in beside him. He crosses his arms over his own legs, tucking them up against his own chest to mirror the other's posture. "I can't," he says truthfully. With another crack of thunder, the child's head of messy black hair is lit up in sharp relief with the lightning. Zoro can feel him shaking. "But I'm sure you'll see them again someday." Zoro lets a moment of silence pass before another crack of thunder splits the air, sounding impossibly close, and his small companion burrows into his side. He resists the urge to push him away, unused to this._

 _"I'm Luffy," comes a wet-sounding whisper from his side._

 _"I'm Zoro," replies the green-haired teen. Slowly, cautiously, he lets his own arm fall across Luffy's thin shoulders. The kid soaks up the tiny act of affection. "Me and Sanji will stick with you, okay? Or at least, I will."_

 _Luffy looks up, and the lightening shoots through his brown eyes, illuminating them and making the tears in them stand out staunchly. He nods, seemingly unable to muster words to show his thankfulness, and they stay like that for the rest of the night._

 _From the night onwards, Luffy joins their little group and due turns to trio. Zoro is surprised to find that, when it's not night-time, Luffy is bright and bubbly, simple minded but also, in a way, not. His smiles are impossibly bright and bold, and even though he doesn't say it, it's obvious that Sanji's fond of him. They find out that his power is rubber. Sanji scoffs at this, stating firmly that being made of rubber is most definitely not a power and not in any way combative. Luffy reminds him, surprisingly solemn, that if it wasn't for his power being considered potentially combative, then he would still be stuck 'there'._

 _Over time, both Zoro and Sanji can see that Luffy is healing from whatever that place did to him. The three share their dreams with each other. Zoro, dryly, says, 'to see Haruta and Nami again. Maybe live past twenty, if I'm lucky'. Sanji, determinedly, says, 'to learn how took cook and become a master travelling chef. I can fight well enough already, I've had enough fighting for a lifetime; I want adventure'. Luffy, grinning, says, 'to be the one with the most freedom in the world'. Luffy gradually stops having nightmares, smiles more, lessens the intensity of his mournful stares._

 _Life as soldiers isn't easy, but they survive it until finally, they manage to make an escape, a few days after Luffy's fifteenth birthday. They sail for four days, with more freedom than any of them have had for years, before arriving – well, apparently at the place where Luffy became an experimentee in the first place._

* * *

"Oi, idiot, snap out of it!" Sanji's voice breaks Zoro out of his thoughts. "We're here."

Zoro glances around at the room they've just entered. It looks like any ordinary storage room – dark and dingy, walls dripping with dried limescale, a wide expanse piled high with crates. Behind the crates in the back of the room, three dull grey tubes stretch from the ceiling to the floor. Each has a small hatch on the front. Sanji walks over to them with a small grin, muttering, "Bingo," and Zoro follows.

When they reach the tubes of gas, Zoro tosses the pack of matches to his companion and they don't speak as Sanji slowly eases open all three hatches, just a millimetre. Slowly but surely, as the seconds tick by, Zoro begins to smell the sickly sweet gases. As soon as Sanji's finished opening the third hatch, both men make their way back towards the entrance to the room slowly, cautious. One single spark could set the whole room ablaze, if what Zoro knows about chemistry is right.

They make their way back up the corridor, to the tunnel and up it. The pair climb in silence, no room for their usual arguments in the tense silence, and when they both emerge back into the open air, it's close to dark outside. And then comes the waiting. Soon enough, the smell of gas starts floating out of the opening, and Sanji gestures for Zoro to stand back. "I'm gonna light three of them and throw them all down there. That should ignite all of the gas. As soon as I've dropped them, we run around to the front – hopefully the guards will leave their posts. Or, even better, they'll be blown to pieces."

Zoro nods, hand on his swords out of instinct, legs tense and ready to run. Sanji takes a deep breath, steeling himself, before striking three matches across the side of the box, throwing them into the hole and turning on his heel to sprint at Zoro, powerful legs pounding into the ground. Both run their hardest, bats out of hell, and the world blurs for a second, too fast for comprehension, wind blow through their hair and forcing back their eyelids and adrenaline shooting through their very veins and-

Behind them, the entire world seems to explode into sound and light and _heat_. The blast sends both teens flying and Zoro lands face-first in the mud, the ground hard against his forehead, the world lurching. Blood fills his mouth at an alarming rate, but he still manages to sit up, vision blurring dangerously, and squint into the blaze that has consumed the bottom half of the building. The explosion appears to have damaged the left side of the building, the one closest to the sea, while the right side and the doors are undamaged. To Zoro's side, Sanji is groaning on the ground, cupping the back of his head with a bloodied hand.

Once the fuzziness in his head has lessened slightly, Zoro takes the time to catalogue the damage to his own body. His right ankle is twisted at a nasty angle – either broken or badly sprained. If he hasn't gotten a mild concussion from that impact with the ground, then Zoro will have been extremely lucky. Something sharp touches the roof of his mouth, and the former soldier spits out a mouthful of blood and a chip of tooth, along with what looks like a ragged strip of flesh from the inside of his mouth. Wincing, Zoro feels his way along his jaw – nothing broken, luckily, but it feels like he's been smacked across the mouth with a forklift.

"You alright?" Sanji asks, trying and failing to stand. One of his knees is soaked with blood through his old military trousers, deep red on blue.

"Yeah," grunts Zoro back, forcing himself to his feet and hobbling over to his fallen comrade, offering support to stand. Grudgingly, Sanji takes it, and together they manage to drag themselves at a decent pace around the building towards the entrance, just in time to come face-to-face with Luffy, who's grinning like a madman.

"Zoro, Sanji! I found my friend!" Beaming so widely his face must be hurting, Luffy gestures to a small… Something perched on his shoulders. It looks a little like a racoon, with downy brown fur and a blue nose, and has it's little paws – or are they hooves? – wrapped around Luffy's head like it's never going to let go. It looks uncomfortable in front of Zoro and Sanji (if a tiny, unidentified animal can look uncomfortable), but doesn't let go of Luffy.

"Of course," Luffy considerers, "He's changed a little bit. I mean, he used to be a human, but-"

"Okay, Luffy, we can talk about this later now let's _go!_ " Zoro reaches out to grab Luffy's arm and haul him along with them, but the fifteen-year old resists.

"Wait, there are two more guys who're coming with us – they're Chopper's friends! This weird skeleton and this _awesome_ cyborg who said he can shoot lasers, and blow up stuff, and _lasers Zoro, lasers!_ "

"Okay, we get it," Sanji wheezes, face staunch with pain. Just as he looks like he's about to explode, the doorway behind Luffy is suddenly flooded by an ocean of people – monstrously tall and as short as Zoro's knee, all different colours of the rainbow, animals of all kinds in their mix. Zoro runs a hand down his face, pulling himself and Sanji out of the way of the crowd in the nick of time, and shoots Luffy a dark look through his fingers.

"I may or may not have hit a button to open all of the cells…" Luffy whistles, turning around so as not to have to meet the angry swordsman's eyes. On his shoulders, the mut – 'Chopper', if Zoro remembers correctly – giggles quietly.

"Luffy-bro!" somebody hollers from the crowd, and two huge figures break from the swarming tide of escapees. Zoro feels his aching jaw fall open. The first, grinning, is tall and wide, with monstrously large forearms and blue hair. He towers over the crowd, a broken chain hanging around his neck and dark sunglasses on his broad face. His chin is pointed in three places, and he's wearing a pair of navy blue speedos. The other figure, even taller than the first but lacking his muscle mass, is a skeleton with a _goddamn afro_ , laughing some bizarre little laugh that sounds like he's – they're? it's? – trying to sing a tune.

"Franky! Brook!" Luffy laughs, flashing the group a close-eyed, toothy smile. "Let's go!"

As one, the group start to run – or limp, in Zoro and Sanji's case. Every sound is too loud in the adrenaline rushing through Zoro. The wind on his face is cleansing and rough and _raw_. As they make their way back down the cliff, some more painstakingly than others – while Zoro and Sanji pick their way down, trying not to injure themselves any more than they have without a doctor at hand, Luffy slides down the steep decline with a whoop – the experimentation base collapses into the sea behind them, no more of its occupants inside.

Luffy turns at the sound of its demolition, something fierce flashing through his expression as the fire reflects in the whites of his eyes, before turning back around and not looking back.

And Zoro wonders, not for the first time, just how his life got this insane.

* * *

 **And, the question you should all be asking yourselves: why did sabo disappear on the same night that luffy escaped?**

 ***sips tea* said too much**

* * *

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 15, May 31:**

 ** _Dammit I'm gonna cry. Plz Sabo and Luffy, don't be dead.._**

 **Don't worry, they're not dead! Well, sabo's kinda worse off than that, but…. Well, let's leave that revelation for chapter 29, okay?**

 **Thanks so much for reviewing! *offers tissues and hugs for tears***

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 15, 22h ago:**

 ** _At least Leo's not ded  
What do yOU MEAN WORSE ;A; SABO  
Poor Ace has to deal with all this  
Update soon~_**

 **Well, when I said we'd hear more of leo later on, I didn't quite mean we'd hear it from** ** _him_** **. I mean, surely he had** ** _some_** **family aside from the revs, even if they weren't at conomi. *whistles* as for Sab…im so sorry…he didn't deserve this. as yes, I feel so bad for the kid ;_; I love him yet I put him through this**

 **Ill try to update soon! Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 14, 22h ago:**

 ** _So this entire chapter was really sweet and nice, kinda bittersweet with the pretty much confirmed deaths of his old squad but nice to see Ace growing into new role and WHAT DO YOU MEAN SABO WILL LEAVE  
THIS CHAPTER MADE ME INTO AN EMOTIONAL MESS I AM CRYING VERY MUCH_**

 **So many questions~ and im glad you liked it! *wipes your tears, hugs* there there, they'll be okay in the end….mostly**

 **Thanks so much for reviewing! Ily, you brighten my day every time you review!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 15, 21h ago:**

 ** _I saw that this fic had been updated. I was like wow already this is so great w and went to last chapter.  
I started reading a/n and began freaking out because "wtf this is spoil and so brutal, so sabo leaves and it's ace's last chap- wait. Chapter 15 ? Wasn't 13 supposed to be the last I read ?"  
Yep. I missed an update.  
And I totally spoiled myself T-T  
Anyway, those two chapters were intense ! Can't wait for Luffy~~ oh and thanks so much for answering my review ! Ya really sweet ;w;  
SHANKS WHYDAHECK ARE YOU LEAVING U STUPID ? Tell me what happened the last time you left Ace again. AND THE TIME BEFORE THAT oh I don't care do what you want and don't come crying when you no longer have sons..  
I hate you Pudding. I hate you so, so much.  
Imma take a wild guess and say that squad 4 (or whats left of it) is going to meet up with Luffy. Or Law. But Law will give Luffy's hat back anyway so they may even be sailing together when that happens.  
AcexLeo YES I SHIP *w*  
Ace thinking how lucky he is to have Sabo wakes up to find he's no longer here. Now that must be quite traumatizing haha. Ha...  
Why am I even laughing am I heartless or something -_-  
Waitwaitwaitwaitwait what have you been keeping from him Marco KEEP EAVESDROPING ACE PLEASE I WANNA KNOW-  
Jozu : "Ace's gone ! The windows were open !"  
Marco : *faints*  
Pidge : *poof**disappears while flying leaving Ace to fall into the sea*  
And this is how Ace died. I did warn you, Shanks.  
WHADDYA MEAN HE'S WORSE THAN DEAD ?  
Seriously you need to stop mistreating those poor kids.. Wha ? I-I'm not at all pleased with all of this angst you bastard~~hahaha~baka~~~  
Can't. wait.  
Oh and also please tell us when you update the tumblr art, I can't wait (either) for the cover to chap 10 ! The sketches are amazing, like every single of your chapters !  
Love :3_**

 **YOUR LONG REVIEWS KILL ME ILYSM THANK YOU. And ah, the mistake with which order you read the chapters mustve sucked D: and been kinda confusing...**

 **I hope the luff was too your satisfaction! More about what happened to the lil dude will be revealed in following chapters, this one was just really to kick it off with a bang. As for squad four and law…hmmm,, you're right about one of them. Cant tell you who.**

 **And you picked up on my little shipping reference! Ayyy! Yesssss, I feel like ace would be the kind to crush on….many people. Aka I hc him as the most Raging Bisexual out there, but I don't want to canonise anything in case I get people on my ass about it. As for what marco's keeping from ace…its sad, but that's all I can tell you ;)**

 **I should stop mistreating the kids? Yes. Yes I should. But angst is…too Good. As for my art – I update it all the time? I did change the url though, so you might still be using the old blog – the new one is strays-fic dot tumblr dot com. Im about to upload the cover for this chapter, actually, and all until now are up there (I think?)**

 **I love your reviews thank you so so much for taking the time to write them! You're the best!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 15, 11h ago:**

 ** _Poor Ace I really wish to see him reunited with the Whitebeards hopefully after he's got his brothers back so he can introduce both his families and I hope Marco isn't too hard on him. And poor Marco, he really cares about Ace and he'll probably worry, I wonder if he can tell where Pidge is and know if he's okay, that would help...  
I'm sure I'll love Luffy's POV just as much as I did this one, so I look foward to it and thanks again for this story. *hugs*_**

 **There is going to be a bonus chapter in this arc about marco and the revs and what it's like when ace is gone, so there's that. I hope youll like it! And yes, marco cares so much abt ace, thatch's got it right~**

 ***cuddles* youre so nice thank you so much for doing this…reviews are the best thing ever**

* * *

 ***falls over* sleep is a thing**


	17. 2-2 - Blossom

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **HAPPY PRIDE MONTH PEOPLE. *throws confetti , cries that my gay ass still doesn't have a cute gf yet* I hope you guys enjoy this month if you celebrate it, and if you're not interested, I still hope you have a good month! This should be a time for joy, not sadness, so try to do something nice for somebody this month! As a celebration of my favourite month of the year (both for Pride and for my birthday) the first canonised main relationship comes in here! Sorry for all you luffyxnami shippers who wanted that, I don't think that's quite possible in this fic….youll find out what I mean**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17 - Blossom**

* * *

Luffy wakes in a cell. His arms are tied behind his back at such an awkward angle that it feels like it would only take a tiny movement to snap them both at the joints. The room around him is completely dark, so much so that he can't see how far away the door is – or even if there is one – and there's barely any difference between closing his eyes and opening them. Where are Ace and Sabo? What happened? There's a sharp pain in the back of his head, and something wet and sticky is slowly seeping through his hair. The ten-year old squirms uncomfortably, body aching, suddenly wishing for somebody to walk in, even if they aren't one of his brothers. Being alone like this is a worse pain than that in his body by far.

He doesn't know how much time passes – minutes or months or anything in between – when the room is suddenly flooded with light. Luffy immediately squeezes his eyes shut, feeling them fill with water at the sudden harsh sting of daylight. Somebody walks in; no, multiple people. Their feet make the wooden boards around him creak. With the door open, the strong smell of sea salt fills the room. At least that much is a comfort to Luffy. He's grown up smelling that smell, so whatever happens now can't be that bad if he's not far from home?

After a few seconds of light on his eyelids and the sun on his face, Luffy eases his eyes open slowly, trying to squint through the tears in his eyes as they blur the room into a fiery red blur. It must be sunrise. He can make out four dark outlines at the front of the room, shrouded in the light streaming from the doorway.

"Who are you?!" he yells, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. His young voice, too high to sound anything but juvenile, cracks mid-sentence. Nobody answers.

When his vision finally clears fully, Luffy can see that the four figures are all watching him intently. In the time he looks at them, none blink. They're all wearing dark, formal clothing. The one furthest to the left has a suit on, with some kind of loose collar coming up to hide his chin and a long, square nose. Luffy holds back a giggle at the sight of the bizarre-looking thing. The second in line is a woman, wearing a really short dress for some reason, with her hair falling over her back and thin, oval-shaped glasses on her face. The man beside her is wearing a suit and tie, with curly black hair falling down his back and a top hat on his head, sort of like Sabo's. The last man is large and broad-shouldered, dressed also in a suit, with a strangely-trimmed beard and is hair shaped like horns on his head. Altogether, they all look pretty weird to Luffy.

After a few more minutes of staring, the four suddenly move into action at the exact same second. The woman moves to stand beside where Luffy is tied at the foot of the back wall. He cranes his neck to see her grabbing a small, black notebook from a table in the corner, before sitting at the table and pulling a pen delicately out of her breast pocket. The man with the bull-hair and square nose nod to the one with the top hat and make their way out of the room swiftly. Behind them, Luffy can hear the lock clicking into place as the door closes and darkness falls once more. Luffy expects somebody to light a candle or something, to bring some light now that the door is closed, but nobody does.

There's a long silence before Luffy can't take it anymore and yells, "What are you doing here?! Why's it so dark? Lemme out!"

As soon as he says the words, a chill runs up Luffy's spine to intensely that he practically jolts from within his confines of rope. In the corner, there's a soft scratching from where the woman is, like pen on paper. She's taking notes on him, Luffy realises uneasily. Why?

Suddenly, there's a sharp, terrible pain in his shin. Luffy cries out, eyes starting to water again against his will, trying to pull his leg out of the way. It feels like something's buried inside his skin, scraping bone, roughhousing with his nerves themselves. The thing, curved with an incredibly shard tip, like the claw or tooth of a cat, pushes further under his skin, as if trying to lift strips of muscle away from the bone. Luffy squirms at the pain, gritting his teeth and trying not to let a whimper escape him. A high-pitched noise of pain escapes from the back of his throat as the sharp thing scrapes audibly against his bone and moves upwards slowly, peeling back the flesh.

"Nng… Please…!" Luffy finds himself panting madly, voice indistinct and weak. This is the worst pain he's ever felt. He squeezes his eyes shut against it, tries to push against it, tries to be strong just like his brothers. But the pain is too great, and as the claw moves up further, taking more and more of his skin with it, Luffy finds himself begging desperately, frenzied, feeling blood drip down his leg. By the time it reaches his knee, he's dissolved into sobs, leg feeling like it's on fire.

"Please stop it!" he tries to choke out around his tears, but it comes out garbled and incoherent. The claw pauses at his knee, a hot sting in his skin, before pulling back slowly but surely. Luffy sags with relief, huffing out hurried breaths, throat rasping.

From the corner of the room, the scratching pauses. "No reaction?" comes a female voice. Luffy can barely hear it through the haze of panic and pain surrounding him.

"No reaction," the man agrees from a few feet directly in front of him. "With the darkness and pain, reaction should be optimised. Strange." Luffy doesn't understand what they're talking about, still struggling to hold back tears. Suddenly, a candle flickers to life in the corner, and Luffy is met with the sight of both the man and woman staring intently at him, both in the same spots they were before. It's obvious that neither has moved. So what was that awful pain? Did Luffy imagine it?

Luffy glances down at his leg and feels his gag reflex send him lurching forward, mouth filling with vomit. No, he definitely didn't.

The man sighs, as if this whole thing is a waste of time to him. "What's your Gift?" he asks, loud and clear, leaving no room for misunderstanding.

"What?" Luffy sniffs, trying to reach up and wipe his tears but unable to with the ropes holding back his arms.

"I said - 'what. Is. Your. Gift'." A tick rises in the man's forehead. The rest of his body is stock still, standing with his hands folded, perfectly still. Like a snake posed to strike and crush Luffy between his teeth.

"I don't have one!"

"Don't lie."

"I'm not!"

"I told you not to lie. I'd suggest you take this on board." The man's voice is stone cold, as if he's speaking words he's had to repeat over and over, learned from a script.

"I really don't, you can check!"

"We already have." The man rolls his eyes. "Fine. We'll do this in the less than pleasant way, then."

The candle goes out with one last flicker of firelight, and the pain begins anew once more. Throat raw from screaming hours later as he passes out, Luffy's last thought is that the red light from earlier wasn't sunrise – it was sunset. It doesn't look like it's going to be sunrise for a while, somehow.

The scene changes. They've found out that Luffy's 'mark' isn't really a mark at all; it's an imitation, and a bad one at that. The man with the top hat (Luffy shivers whenever he sees him, memories of having his flesh peeled back for days on end to trigger his power springing into his mind) slams his fist into his palm with a small growl of anger, livid that he's wasted his time. They leave Luffy tied up for days more but this time, nobody bothers to feed him anymore. They don't have a reason to keep him alive now.

In the darkness, completely alone, Luffy yearns for is brothers. He dreams of Ace's gruff teasing and warm arms and protection from everything. He wishes for Sabo's hugs and warmth and very blue eyes filled with laughter and affection. Tears well up in his eyes as he prays for Shanks to come rushing in and take him from this place, take him far, far away from the pain. His dreams are filled with them, warm and soft and a refuge from the storm of every day, but they escape from him like smoke on the wind as soon as he wakes.

The scene changes. A woman comes to give him food every day now; well, she sneaks in. She has dark eyes, a peculiar myriad of many shades of blue, and even darker hair, cut straight across her forehead. She has a sharp and angular face, harsh yet slightly beautiful. She wears a naval uniform but doesn't have the build of a soldier. There are scars running along her long fingers as she feeds him spoonfuls of broth, cold but mercifully filling. ' _I'm Luffy. Who are you?_ ' Luffy asks her every day, hoping for a different answer.

' _A friend_ ,' she replies. She treats his wounds but doesn't bandage them, leaving no clues that she was ever here to begin with when she leaves, but when she looks at Luffy, her hard eyes soften and sometimes, just sometimes, she smiles. Those are the moments that Luffy looks forward to the most. She reminds him of Ace – cold until somebody bothers to try to melt her. When she bends down to tend to what she fears is a growing infection in his leg one day, her hair falls off her neck to reveal a swirling black mark. Luffy gasps and nearly yells out to her, asking what her power is, telling her how cool it is. But when she looks up, her eyes are full of fear. She flees the room like a shadow, and doesn't come back.

As she leaves, Luffy calls out, ' _who are you?_ ' because he knows that she's going for good now, somehow.

She glances back at him, eyes wide, but after a second she whispers, ' _Robin_. _I hope to see you again, Luffy_.'

The scene changes. They've found out that Luffy has some strange type of blood – he doesn't know the details. It happens so fast that he can barely process it all. One minute he's alone in his cell, in the dark and cold of the room he's come to hate, and then three people rush in, filling the room with light once more. Luffy shies away on instinct, closing his eyes against the light and preparing himself for what he knows is coming. They haven't done this since they found out that Luffy doesn't have this weird Gift thing, but he was stupid to hope that they would stay away forever.

However, the burning sensation doesn't come. Instead, one of three pulls a blindfold over Luffy's eyes with unnecessary force, and another loosens the ropes around him, letting Luffy's arms fall to his sides. They've been pulled back for so long that he can feel the blood flooding back into them and gives a groan of pure relief at the feeling, whole body tingling. Then, somebody puts their hands under his arms to try to lift him up, and Luffy flips. Flailing and yelling out, the ten-year old feels his foot make contact with something hard.

There's a grunt from above him and with a dull pain exploding across his head, Luffy feels the world disappear around him as he falls into oblivion.

The scene changes. Chopper is impossibly small. It's Luffy's eleventh birthday, his first birthday without Ace and first for four years without Sabo. They scratch a birthday cake into the dust at the floor of their cell, barely large enough for the both of them, shoulders pushed together. The jagged scabs in Luffy's forearms where the needles and syringes have ripped his skin are staunch in the light of the moon, dripping through a tiny window high above. He glances across at Chopper over his birthday cake, eleven grimy candles unlit and dull on the ground. The eight-year old is all big, brown eyes, and looks at Luffy like he's something from another world. _Like he's the sun_.

Luffy is leaving tomorrow. His body has changed. His skin is made of something stretchy and firm, no longer susceptible to blows, and he feels like he's gotten stronger in more ways than one. It's been a long couple of months. He has to leave behind Chopper now, and though it hurts, Luffy promises over and over that they'll meet again. The younger boy is scared. Luffy wonders if this is what Ace and Sabo felt like, being the older one, the stronger one, the protector.

They spend all night talking about home. Luffy tells Chopper all about his brothers, about their adventures, about Shanks and the ocean and the smell of freedom. Chopper tells him about his father back home that he barely remembers, and the colour of the sky in his village in the south, and about the day before his blood testing when he and the other children in the village learnt how to ice skate. They blow out the candles together, smearing them through the dust, and the night gives way to sunrise.

Luffy doesn't revel in the new light as much as he'd thought he would.

* * *

"Hey. Luffy? Luffy, wake up."

Jolted out of his dream – or memory – Luffy's eyes drift open. He stares up into the face of Zoro, who is partially obscured by shadow. Outside, distantly, thunder rumbles. It's too far away to be heard distinctly, but Luffy still shivers.

"It's your turn on watch," Zoro murmurs, so as not to wake the others. Luffy sits up and looks around. All six of them in a cave just down the coast from where their small boat is tethered. Last night, they faced the minor dilemma of Brook and Franky's abnormal size – altogether, all six of them were too much to fit on it so they decided, worn out and injured as they were, to camp out in a nearby sea cave until morning and then decide a new plan of action. Across the room, Sanji is curled up against the wall, blood still dried on his hands. Chopper, Franky and Brook are passed out on the floor further into the cage. Luffy takes a moment to take in the sight of his younger friend, smile stretching across his face at the sight of him.

Getting up and making his way to the mouth of the cave, Luffy isn't surprised when his green-haired friend joins him, silent as a shadow. They sit down at either ends of the cave's mouth, not talking, watching the thunderstorm fade into the distance. If Luffy squints and cranes his head to the left from where he's sitting, he can see the wreckage of the experimentation base, lying pathetically in the sea. He runs a hand along his forearms, feeling the little ridges of the tiny, pale scars that place gave him, and smiles.

As the sun slowly begins to lighten the sky, Sanji joins them, sitting a few feet from Luffy so as not to have to sit alongside his rival. The blonde seventeen-year old always wakes with the dawn. From the island, Luffy can hear the dawn chorus beginning, though it's faint and indistinct from here. The sun continues to rise across the ocean, stinging Luffy's eyes, and at some point Sanji slinks off, muttering something about trying to find some food on the boat. He probably just wants to get out into the sea air, Luffy thinks, but doesn't say it.

Soon enough, Chopper and the other two muts wake up. As soon as Chopper sees Luffy he flies at him, trying to convince himself that it wasn't all just a dream, and Luffy laughs and returns his affections enthusiastically. Zoro tactfully looks away, nodding towards Franky and Brook, the latter still creeping him out slightly. Talking, walking, singing skeletons (all of which were demonstrated last night) are not something Zoro comes across every day. However, if he continues to travel with Luffy, he considers, he's probably going to see a lot weirder.

The day moves on, and though they should probably by hightailing it away from this island as soon as humanly possible, nobody feels like moving on quite yet. Sanji arrives back as the sun is high in the sky with armfuls of food, and Zoro and Franky have to bodily hold Luffy back in order to keep him from stealing it all before Sanji can ration it all out. They spend the morning talking, the whole group.

"Ow! I've been there for eight years, Sanji-bro!" Franky near bellows, drumming his fingers on his enlarged forearms. "I was their prototype for a type of robot. They finished working on this design about a year ago."

"Why didn't you get employed into the army, then?" Luffy asks, cocking his head to the side. "You seem SUPERR combative to me!"

Fist-pumping Luffy with a hand that looks larger than the boy himself, Franky replies, "There's a loophole in the law. They have to hand over any _human_ who's combative. I'm now more cyborg than human in their book." The cyborg taps his metal torso proudly to demonstrate. "Though I've still got my heart, they never took that."

Brook sighs morosely, putting a hand over his ribcage and the empty place where his own heart should be beating. "Alas, they didn't offer me the same. My heart aches at the injustice! Oh, wait. I don't have a heart!" He bursts into seemingly crazed laughter, making Chopper jump and Luffy crack up laughing too, just at the pure ridiculousness of it all.

"As fun as this is," Sanji cuts in, trying to hide a grin, "We can't afford to hang around here much longer. They'll probably be searching the island for the people who blew up the base, so it'd be best if we grabbed a boat and got out of here ASAP."

"Well where do you suggest we get one then, crap-cook?" replies Zoro, smirking as Sanji flies into a rage and parrying one of his kicks, quick as lightening, with the flat edge of his blade.

"It might be too complicated for certain pea brains to think of, but I was thinking we could steal one. I mean, it's not like we're wanted criminals or anything." Sarcasm drips from Sanji's voice like poison.

Zoro rolls his eyes. "Yeah, we can just stroll into a nearby town and get caught and sent back to '49. Great plan, genius."

Growling, Sanji opens his mouth to carry on bickering when Luffy cuts in, seemingly oblivious to their squabble. "Hey, we could just be pirates!"

Both Sanji and Zoro blink. "I'm sorry, _what_?" asks Sanji, for once caught off-guard.

"We could be pirates!" Luffy makes a gesture like he's fighting with a sword with his hands. "Y'know. Us three could go out and kick some marine butt off a ship, and then it would be big enough for all of us!"

"He's popped it." Sanji turns to Zoro. "He's finally popped it."

"That's actually not a bad idea…" Zoro replies, as if to himself.

"Now _you've_ popped it too!" groans Sanji, dropping his head into his hands.

"Well," puts in Chopper from his place at Luffy's side, "You guys do seem really strong. I bet if anybody could take down a marine ship, then it would be you…" He trails off, bashful, as Sanji shoots him a look. "Sorry."

"He's right, bro," Franky agrees. "If we had a marine ship, we could get anywhere we want SUPER fast!" Brook nods in agreement.

"You're all nuts," Sanji mutters under his breath, before sighing and saying, "Fine. But if we all die, I'm not going to forgive you."

"Priss."

* * *

Nami crouches in the crow's nest, head just low enough that the midday sun doesn't catch her red hair and she's hidden from view in the shelter of the sails. Out of all of the places she's gone to steal from, this is the first time she's been south and even though it's profitable, it's dangerous. Vivi warned her not to come here, worried that she might not come back, but there's no sea that Nami's daring doesn't extend to. This ship should be stuffed with valuables, and a chance to mess with the military never gets past Nami.

But she'll have to wait here, uncomfortably curled up, until night time if she wants to get what she interested in. Her mouth practically waters at the thought of what treasures must lie in the cargo hold of this monster of a ship. Maybe she can grab something for Vivi – a new peacock slasher maybe, or some jewellery. The blue-haired girl would have usually come with her on journeys like this (they make an incredible team), but Kaira has been victim to more vicious storms than ever lately. As well as this, Blackbeard, for all the islands he's losing in the east because of the bombing, is spreading his hold. Though Kaira is under the protection of the rebels, it's not technically in their domain, so it needs as much manpower – and wealth – as it can amass.

And that explain why Nami is trying to strip the seas bare of their wealth, and has been doing so for a good few years now. After all that Kaira did for her – taking her in from Shanks, offering her a home with Vivi, treating her like family – it's the least she can do. And, though she's never told anybody this, there is one more reason why she's travelling so much. There's a tiny hope in Nami that just maybe, she can meet the man she knows now is called Ace.

She and her girlfriend - and, indeed, all of Kaira - have had their lives turned upside down by a strange boy with silver eyes, black hair and freckles. He saved Nami all those years ago from Loguetown, got her out just in time, and then apparently got out himself (though Nami and Vivi have no idea how he did so). Then he travelled further north, freed Vivi's town from vicious oppression and left shortly after; Nami just missed him when Shanks, who apparently knew him too, dropped her off after rescuing her from slavers. She and Vivi often joke that 'everybody in the ocean knows this kid', but deep down, both wish to thank him for everything.

There's a spark of hope in Nami that she'll see Zoro and Haruta too, but that's slightly more dimmed. The chances that either of them lived through the Eastern Terror are slim to none. If they were alive, Zoro would be seventeen by now, while Haruta would be thirteen or fourteen at most. And where would they have gone? Maybe Zoro would have been accepted into the navy, but Haruta never would, and he wouldn't leave her on her own. And though Nami now knows that it isn't true, they had all been told that the islands in the north were getting it worse, and they probably wouldn't have risked that either.

Nami is shaken out of her thoughts be a slight rift in the peace from below. The lookout in the lower crow's nest is yelling, "Ship spotted! It's a small one, fishin' boat!"

Somebody from the deck of the ship yells back, "See if you can make out how many people are on it! We're on alert for a small boat with three people on it. Escaped soldiers, would you believe it?!"

A tide of dim laughter rushes up from the men around the deck, loitering in the hot sun, and Nami scoffs quietly. They seem foolishly uncaring for people facing a potential attack. Her eyes zero in on the tiny boat – she can make out a figure sitting on the bow, and another, blonde hair glinting in the sun, standing behind the wheel. If there is a third, then they're around the other side of the sails. Nami glances back to the marines. They still don't look too bothered.

But every head on deck turns, every jaw drops, when the person sitting on the bow of the ship stretches his arm twenty feet across the ocean to grab onto the railing, and smashes into the side of the marine warship.

However, Nami has eyes only for the man who's just who has just stepped into view on the little dingy, with a white shirt and a head of short, green hair.

* * *

 **Trying to update fast! Trying ;_;**

 **You might have noticed my parallel between ace and haruta and luffy and chopper. And by 'might have' I mean most definitely did because I made it so goddamn obvious oh my god**

 **And vivi and nami! If you don't like it, im very sorry, but I'm not changing it. I honestly consider the ship to be canon by the way they acted when they were together in canon. They're utterly adorable and im sorry if you find that sort of thing wrong for this story, but it's there and that's that.**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 16, 13h ago:**

 ** _LUFFY ;u;  
Pfft, Marimo  
Oh my, you're updating quite fast ouo  
Update soon~_**

 **Thank you for reviewing! Yes, zoro is a complete dork and I love writing him. and thank you! Im trying to squeeze out the chapters while I have the time.**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 16, 12h ago:**

 ** _YOU ARE SO QUICK AT UPDATING YOU ARE THE BEST ! Thank you so so soo much T-T  
This chapter got me totally hyped *w* I'm soo ready for Luffy's adventures with his crew !  
Ooh right I figured it would be something like scientific experiments they'd perform on Luff Chopper and Brook to make them.. Well, possible xD I didn't dare hope we'd get Franky so soon though ! I'm SUPEEER happy he's there T-T  
Hey wait are they gonna fit in the boat ?  
Oh how I wish Luffy would slip his brothers' names in the conv and Sanji would be like "..Sabo ?" and Zoro would figure out who Ace is and AAAAH w  
Never thought I'd ever see Zoro dreaming of seeing Nami again xDDD Aand I'm still waiting for his full mysterious angsty past.  
So many reunions to come ! Zoro/Nami/Haruta Sabo/Ace/Luffy/Shanks Sanji/Sabo I just can't wait!  
So far, nothing about Robin or Usopp, uh ? Or did I maybe miss/forget something ? Well I hope the latter meets with Kaya and then we have yet another reunion with Sanji and Sab xD Oh and I hope Bepo survived and he's the one to meet Law.  
Um, you said Sabo left on the day Luffy ESCAPED then ? Not on the day he blew up the base ? You would never let him be caught in the gas explosion ? RIGHT ?  
Nah. You're not that cruel x3  
Well, if Sabo lost his memories, he'd consider it to be worse than death. I hope that's what you meant.  
_** _ **Okay I know it can't be only that coz that's to simple for you - but my mind is simply refusing to imagine anything WORSE happenning to sweet lil Sab x'c  
**_ _ **Thanks for the tumblr link, I should have checked -_-' 14 and 15 were my favourites, Haruta's just so cute *-* Will you draw Leo ?  
**_ _ **Haha by the time I post this review you might even have posted another chapter you're so fast it amazes me xD**_

 **Thank you so much! The chapters are coming out pretty fast, huh? I just hope they're coherent :3 and im glad you're hyped! I am too! And yes, the experimentation squad…I love them but damn, I feel bad for them ;_;**

 **No, they aren't going to fit onto that boat T-T as for that….well, that will come up pretty soon ;) but nami is going to be there soon and its going to be utter confusion and I cant wait to write it.**

 **Zoro's past…oh Christ. That's all I can say. Or 'oh perona'. And the reunions! Im excited for them too! Tbh this whole fic is just setting up a bunch of sad reunions cause theyre my favourite thing to write. And yes, usopp was at the end of chapter 5, he had a little scene with ace! As for bep, I can tell you that he isn't dead, but that's it.**

 **Yep, sabo escaped on the day luffy escaped from base 49. Don't worry, he wasn't caught in the explosion – it's worse. As for sab losing this memory; a lot of people have theorised about it. I cant confirm anything, but even if he had lost his memories, he would still be able to talk to ace – or, rather, ace would be able to sense him.**

 **Thanks, im so glad you like my art! Im currently struggling through drawing the cover for this chapter, and then ill try to doodle him, promise. He's my kid. I love him.**

 **Thanks for reviewing, ily!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 16, 2h ago:**

 ** _Yo quick question: has there been a one year time skip since the last chapter? Just because I thought Ace was 18, and 4 years older than Luffy (except Ace mentioned spending 4 years with the revs, and a year getting there? I'm confusing myself)  
This chapter was great! It was absolutely awesome seeing where Luffy has been all these years (even if it's really sad) and why they couldn't find him, btw your author notes are fucking TORTURE we have to wait so long to figure out what happened to Sabo and we know he's hurt T_T_**

 **Ah, I can see why you got confused! Don't worry. They're still three years apart, but the reason Ace and Sabo were fourteen while Luffy was ten when he was taken is because it was just after their birthday. Luffy was due to turn eleven only a few months later. So no, there wasn't a timeskip – chapter 16 starts the same day as chapter 15, four days after sabo's disappearance. So Ace is 18 and Luffy is 15 now.**

 **Thank you! And yes, my a/n's exist to torture you lot with teasers :3 I am evil. And, I think it's safe to say that sabo is a little more than just 'hurt'…*sips tea once more***

* * *

 **Thirteen hours! A new chapter in thirteen hours! Now I sleep**


	18. 2-3 - Dead in the Water

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **Hey guys, can I ask a favour?**

 **Could you please take a moment to review and let me know what you think personally happened to Sabo? I kinda want to know what impression I'm giving my readers about the situation. it would be really appreciated if you let me know! Thanks people!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 18 – Dead in the Water**

* * *

Sanji grins as Luffy soars through the air and into the side of the marines' ship with a loud whoop, breaking a huge section of the railing into smithereens and flying straight through it into the mast. The wooden structure wobbles dangerously, but doesn't topple over. A few seconds later, amid shouts of alarm from the previously lax marines, the boat hits the side of the warship and Sanji and Zoro edge it along a little so they can grab a nearby rope ladder. By the time they both reach the top, Luffy has peeled himself out of the mast and is dusting himself off, so casual that it would seem like he hasn't just taken a chunk out of the ship with the pure force of his body, if not for the dozens of guns trained on him.

As the torrent of bullets fly at the kid, he looks up through his messy hair and grins, crossing his arms. "Won't work!" The bullets all hit him and the mast behind him, but he doesn't stumble. There's a moment of pure silence, nothing clear but the smell of gunpowder on the air, before Luffy flings out his arms and throws back his head, and bullets fly out of him in every direction.

Chaos reigns. Sanji and Zoro dive into the fight without prompting, taking the marines by surprise, and the fight lasts a little under an hour. Sanji, though his knee isn't in the best condition, roars into battle like hell on legs. He feels his legs power into bone and muscle, taking down marines in a whirl, friction heating up his shoes to such an extent that they feel they could catch fire. One comes at him with a sword and a yell on his lips and Sanji flips back onto his hands, throwing his feet up one after the other after him to catch the man under the chin, _bam, bam_. His head is pushed back with a sickening crack, blood splattering across his face. When he falls, he doesn't rise again.

Sanji springs off his hands just in time to duck under a bayonet, and ducks low to swipe the offender's legs out from under him with deadly force. There's one thing he loves about fights like this; you can't fall into a routine. It's not like the rest of the world; it's like entering another dimension. Sweat runs down your neck and pulses under your skin, your heart pounds so hard it feels like it might leave your chest. Kick, swing, jump, kick kick. Handstand, swing, spin, kick, kick,kick. There's no order, nor pattern. The world fragments for a millisecond.

At his side, Zoro is slicing through the hoard like they're blades of grass – though, of course, not with the same success that Sanji is having. As if the mosshead could match him. Over the crowd of confused marines, milling about with weapons in their hands that they barely know how to use, the blonde can hear Luffy's distinctive laugh and knows that they'll all be alright.

All too soon, the fight ends. Sanji is left breathing heavily, sweating and aching but trying to look nonchalant as he nudges an unconscious marine with his toe. "That all of them?" he asks nobody in particular.

"Yep! I got the captain!" Luffy suddenly bounces into view, knuckles bloody, shirt torn, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"I got the first mate," coughs Zoro from a few feet away, sheathing his swords in a swift motion.

"Yeah, mossball?! Well, I got-"

Sanji is interrupted from his passionate rant by the sound of frantic movement from high above him, in the crow's nest. Bracing himself for attack, the last thing the former soldier expects to see is a girl scrambling down from the crow's nest, orange hair flying, as quick as lightening. She gets down to the foot of the mast and past Sanji quicker than he can react; not that he would even if she had been quicker. His eyes are riveted on her face. She's wearing a cut-off shirt and cargo pants, masculine clothes that somehow manage to accentuate her figure, and there's a gold earring in her right ear. Her red hair is tied up, a few short hairs tickling the nape of her neck, the rest long enough to touch her lower back. ( **1** )

Beautiful brown eyes flashing, she shoves past Sanji and strides to stand right in front of Zoro, hand on hip. Her other hand, left loose at her side, is shaking slightly.

"Is that you, Zoro?" she asks, voice clear, eyes wide.

"Who the hell are-"

Suddenly, the mosshead's eyes go wide and he stakes half a step back, tense shoulders going slack. His jaw falls open, still bruised from the explosion yesterday. His expression dissolves into a look of blank shock, something Sanji has never seen on his face before, not even after all of this.

"Nami…?"

"Zoro!" The girl, Nami, takes a step forwards as if she's going to hug the swordsman, then a step back, cautious. Her eyes narrow. Sanji finds her more gorgeous than ever with every passing moment.

"Nami- how did you… What?!" Zoro appears to be a little lost. "What are you doing here?! And- and- You're alive?!"

"I should be asking you that!" Nami eventually seems to decide to throw caution to the wind, stepping forwards to pull Zoro into a rough embrace, as if making sure that he's real. Zoro freezes up, shocked, but as quickly as the hug started, the girl pulls away.

"You were the one captured by slavers!"

"And you were the one stuck in the Eastern Terror without anywhere to go, _I_ was rescued!" Nami yells back.

"The hell's the Eastern Terror?" asks Zoro, momentarily caught off-guard.

"Oh, don't tell me you-" Nami looks Zoro up and down, stepping back away. "You've seriously been here for all these years? Cosying up to the navy? What about Haruta, Zoro, what happened to her?! You just abandoned her!"

"I didn't have a choice!" Zoro bellows back, eyes lighting up with anger. "And if you've been free all these years, why didn't you come look for us?! You can't lecture me about leaving the kid if you didn't even try to find her!"

"I did try! I tried for so long that I thought you were both-"

Luffy gives a loud, obnoxious yawn, breaking up the tense conflict in the most bizarre way possible. "Meh, Sanji, this is boring. Let's go back and find Franky and Chopper and Brook!" All eyes on him in incredulity, Luffy starts to stroll towards where the dingy is tied up happily, as if to jump back on it.

"Oi, Luffy, we've got a boat now!" calls Sanji. "We don't need that one!"

"What?" the black-haired teen blinks, before putting his hands behind his head and grinning. "Ah, sorry Sanji!"

"It's alright," Sanji says, at the same time as Zoro sighs and mutters, "Let's get going." They glance at each other, both tempted to start a fight but not quite willing to make the effort, before looking away.

Nami glances between all three teens, one after the other, before saying to Zoro, "Well, you should at least properly introduce me to your friends, if you want to stall until you explain yourself."

Rolling his eyes, Zoro nods and says, "Sure, but first we've got some people to pick up."

Together, he, Luffy and Sanji move into action. Zoro and Luffy unfurl the sails, climbing up into the riggings and undoing the knots with deft hands. Sanji doesn't ask for Nami's help to raise anchor – after all, she's a delicate _mellorine_! – but after watching him struggle for a few seconds, she gives a small huff and strides over to help. Together, they manage to raise anchor and once it's up, Sanji thanks Nami profusely and rushes over to the wheel. All three former marines have manned a ship like this multiple times in the past, so it's not too difficult to make it from where it was originally docked back towards the island.

While Zoro and the other two manage the ship - the black haired kid and the one who keeps eyeing her up – Nami glances around, taking in the unconscious or dead marines scattered across the deck. Knowing that they're bound to wake soon, Nami thinks fast. She'll have to listen to Zoro's story first, but if she wants to dump these idiots and make off with the boat, then it'll be useful to Nami to have some form of leverage over the navy. Thirty or so hostage marines sound like a fair suggestion.

So, Nami darts back up to the crow's nest and grabs her backpack – what she and Vivi used to call their 'bag of tricks'. Slinking back to the ground and pointedly ignoring the blonde teen's goo-goo eyes, Nami reaches into a side pocket and pulls out a packet of some of the most useful things she's ever had the pleasure of using.

Zipties.

Hopefully, there are enough to tie up every man on the ship; if not, some can go overboard. Nami prioritises the captain and first mate above all others, tying them back to back before batting her eyelashes as best she can and calling blondie over, asking him to drag them to the hold of the ship so her 'poor, tired arms' don't have to. As soon as he's gone, nose bleeding heavily and looking slightly punch-drunk, Zoro shoots Nami a dull glare. He knows exactly what she's doing. Winking in response, Nami goes back to her job, methodically tying up marine after marine and instructing Sanji to bring them down to the hold. Luckily, there are just enough zipties to get every last man detained.

Once the job is completely done, Nami checks on those in the hold. They don't look like they're going to be going anywhere anytime soon but just in case, the sixteen-year old sets about using fabric from a nearby crate to gag and blindfold them all, just as they begin to stir. It wouldn't do any good to have them communicating or trying to bite off each other's restraints. Once the exhaustive, time-consuming task is over, Nami bolts the door to the cargo hold firmly behind her and does one last sweep of the ship, confirming that all the marines are captured. She may be a thief, but Nami doesn't leave any job half-done.

Stepping back out onto the deck, the redhead raises an eyebrow at the sight of land getting closer and closer on the horizon. "Where are we going, anyway?" she asks.

"We've got three friends hiding out on some naval experimentation island," replies Sanji, voice an octave lower than usual, playing batman in an attempt to woo Nami. Deep down, she isn't particularly bothered by his obvious schoolboy crush. Sanji's a bit of a dork, obviously, and it's never going to happen, but he's most likely a good guy beneath his lovestruck exterior. Nami can tolerate his affections.

"Oh yeah?" she replies, leaning against the railing of the warship and staring out across the ocean. "And then what? Where are you three headed, now that you've apparently escaped from the navy?"

Sanji shrugs, forgetting to fawn and fuss for a second. "We don't exactly know. We know our first priority is to get out of the south as soon as possible, cross the fringe and then, who knows? Me and Zoro only met these three friends yesterday. We might just split once we're out of here."

He seems to start, as if realising what he's saying. "Ah, Nami-chwan, but I'll stay with you if you want me too! I-"

"That's 'Nami- _san'_ , Sanji-kun," cuts in Nami airily, drifting past the former soldier with a hidden smirk just as a small cove comes into sight across the way, buried in the cliff face. A few feet away from where she was, Nami raises an eyebrow and scans the ocean. A few hundred metres off the coast, just below a rough overhang, a huge body of rubble pierces the sea, forcing its way out of the ocean, waves crashing and pounding into it. It can't be very old, not looking weathered or rough in the slightest. It's almost as if an entire building has fallen cleanly into the waves.

Deciding to leave that peculiarity until she has time to think about it, Nami turns back towards the cove, which is quite close now. In its mouth there are three figures, indistinct, one very short, one very thin and one broad-shouldered and tall. All three are waving towards the navy battle ship, and as they grow near, the thief can make out their more than unusual body shapes and types – some kind of racoon on two legs, a skeleton and a robot?! – and wonders vaguely if she's lost the plot.

* * *

"Okay, _now_ you're explaining," demands Nami, as soon as night falls and the group can finally relax. It's been a long day. This morning, she was hiding out in the crow's nest of a military ship, waiting to strike and rob them blind. At midday, Nami's world was tilted on its axis by the arrival of a long-lost childhood figure, one she had been sure was dead. All afternoon and into the night, she worked alongside what was perhaps the strangest group of people she had ever met – a rubber man, a three-sworded swordsman, an aggressive yet overly flirty blonde, a tiny reindeer, a monstrous cyborg and even an eight-foot tall singing skeleton.

This really is the point at which Nami should be questioning her own sanity, as if she hasn't been for the last six hours.

Zoro sighs irritably from the other side of the table they're all sat at. "We've been working all day, sea witch. Can't I sleep first?"

"No." All seven members of what Luffy calls his crew (the little idiot is actually calling himself a _pirate_ ) are piled into the galley. The warship, which has been proudly proclaimed to be called 'Merry' by a proud Luffy, is anchored at an uninhabited island near the fringe. Merry herself feels far too large for all of them. She has a mess hall built for sixty at most and three dorm rooms, as well as a captain's room, two storage rooms and a kitchen. Sanji fawns over the kitchen almost as much as he does over Nami.

"But Namiii, we want to sleeeep!" whines Luffy, flopping over one of Franky's forearms despondently.

"I'm not saying you have to be involved in the conversation, idiot, just let me talk to Zoro." Nami feels like pulling her hair in frustration. Turning back to Zoro, she says, "Okay. So after I was captured…?"

"Well…" Zoro gives up on keeping it a secret. "Me and Haruta decided that it was either go north and get blown up, stay in the east and get blown up or go south. Going south to join the navy felt like our only option. So us two travelled to the fringe but when we got here, they only accepted me. Before I could say no to them, they grabbed me and slammed the doors on her. Then before I knew it, I was being dressed in a marine uniform and being told to train in swordsmanship. And then I met this moron-" (he gestures towards Luffy at this, who's falling asleep with Chopper in his lap) "-And five days ago, we escaped our base together."

"You know I was there too, mosshead," Sanji practically growls.

"I know, it'd just be better if you weren't there. We could've gotten out ten times quicker if it wasn't for your sorry ass."

And of course, the fighting and bickering begins anew. "Do they ever stop?" whispers Nami to Chopper, if only for a reason to bring the quiet mut into the conversation.

"I-I don't think so!" Burrowing further into Luffy's stomach, Chopper tries to hide his face in the folds of Luffy's torn, frayed marine shirt. He's obviously painfully nervous. Nami feels bad for the kid, but knows that it'll probably pass soon enough. God knows _she_ was shy after Shanks rescued her from Arlong and his gang.

Zoro flops gracelessly back into his seat, grinning like he's just won the fight even though he most likely hasn't. Nami takes one look around her, at the situation she's gotten herself into this time, and sighs. "Alright. I guess it's my turn to tell you what happened with me, right?"

Face sobering, Zoro nods and leans forward slightly. "I've told you my story, now what's yours?"

"I…" Name takes a deep breath, and starts to talk. "The slavers who captured me called themselves the 'Arlong Gang'. Luckily, they didn't have their hands on me for long, but when they did, I met a girl called Haley, who was a little older than me. We became friends, I guess. She always seemed so cool. She wanted to join the rebellion in the north, kept talking about dreams and hope and freedom. She didn't talk much but when she did, it was always to me. We were like sisters."

"So a couple of weeks after my arrival, when a man called Shanks rescued me but accidentally left her behind with them, I guess I was-"

"Wait a minute, _Shanks?"_ Luffy suddenly looks wide awake, standing so fast that half the room flinches, and Chopper falls out of his lap with an alarmed noise. "As in, Red-hair Shanks?!"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

Luffy stares at Nami for a good few seconds before suddenly throwing his head back and cheering loudly, face stretching into such a wide grin that most of his companions can't help but smile in return. "Yes! I knew he was alive, I knew it!"

"You know Shanks?" asks Nami, confused. "How?"

"He's my dad!" Luffy suddenly seems full of energy, picking Chopper up and spinning him around with a whoop. Nami's jaw drops.

"No way. No w _ay_. If you're Shanks' son, how did you end up living in the south?!"

Luffy shrugs. "Well, there was this incident with my brothers, Ace and Sabo, when I was a kid, and-"

"Hold the fuck up, _Sabo_?!"

"You know an Ace? Wait, does he have black hair, freckles, silver eyes, _that_ Ace?!"

Luffy glances between the person who said the former, Sanji, and the latter, Nami. A cheeky smile curls his lips. "I'm guessing this is pretty confusing, huh?"

"You seriously said Sabo!"

"Pleae, just tell me what you said about a guy called Ace, I-"

"What the hell is going on?!" Zoro asks as Chopper, dizzy from being spun, clambers onto the table in front of him. He manages to pull the little reindeer off the table and out of the way just in time for Sanji to lean across it and slam his hands down on it.

"I don't want to alarm you, bros, but I think we're making a bit of noise…" Franky tries to say, but his words are lost in the sound of Nami, Sanji and Luffy all yelling.

"I don't think they're listening, Franky-san."

Just as the noise in the room has reached its ultimate pitch, however, it happens.

An explosion cracks through the air, sounding so close that it might be right outside the ship, and everybody goes silent. Glancing around at everybody, most looking either curious or scared, Nami pads across the room as lightly as she can, reaching a window in the galley and pulling back the curtain a fraction of an inch to stare out into the blackness.

"What is it?" breathes Chopper, still clinging to Zoro.

"Something on the other side of the island is burning," Nami reports. "Like it's just been firebombed…"

Standing, transferring Chopper to his shoulders, Zoro frowns. "Are you sure? We're on an uninhabited island and as well as that, we're in the _south_. Why would they bomb themselves?"

"I'm pretty sure… Look, there's a plane circling!"

"Crap. Does it look like it's coming in our direction?" Sanji asks. Immediately, the atmosphere in the room darkens.

Nami pushes the curtains open a little further. "I can't be sure, but… Maybe we should try to get out of here. There's a chance they might try to get in closer and drop another bomb. Okay!" She turns back to the group, suddenly resolute. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Five minutes later, the group find themselves sailing as fast as they can away from the island – not an easy feat, considering the fact that there's little wind tonight. Nami stands on the back deck of the ship, look back at the island as it burns and slips away into the darkness. After a few minutes, once the ship is properly moving again, Brook comes to stand beside her.

"Ah, Nami-san! I must ask – may I see your-"

"No." Nami is concentrating too hard to get angry right now. "Brook, look at the plane circling the island and tell me what you see."

Brook turns away towards the island, obviously stung by being rejected, and looks in the same direction as Nami. "I'm not sure, Nami-san. It looks like a normal plane."

"That's no government plane, I'm sure of it." Nami tries to make out the insignia inscribed on the underbelly of the plane, only for her eyes to widen in alarm when the jet stops circling and suddenly starts heading towards them. "Shit! Brook, tell the others to pick up the pace, it's coming right at us!"

Keeping her eyes on the approaching bomber plane, Nami takes a few steps backwards before turning and running for the wheel, trying to manoeuvre the ship into a position where the sails can catch the wind more easily with the limited knowledge she has. They pick up speed minutely, but the bomber is still approaching, and fast.

"Damnitt!" They still aren't moving fast enough. Tears of frustration stinging in her eyes, Nami looks up at the plane and for a second, just a millisecond, it feels like it's only her and that plane that exist in the universe. The flames of Loguetown flash behind her eyes. Not for the first time, Nami can smell death on the air. The plane is right above them now, and even Luffy has stopped running around to stare up at it, seven figures standing against the world.

And the firebomb falls.

The next ten seconds is a time Nami will never forget, not until the end of her days. The first bomb doesn't do much damage. It falls and rocks the deck beneath her, so hard she falls to her knees. While the others rush around, trying to put out the flames burning on the starboard side, she watches everything moving in slow motion. It's as if somebody has taken a dial in her brain and turned it all the way down, and she can't turn it back up. Raising her head to keep her eyes on the plane, hearing the hiss of seawater and smelling smoke, Nami watches as a second firebomb is dropped out of a hatch in the bottom of the ship.

Her jaw falls open in horror, everything seems to speed back up, and the last thing Nami sees is the revolutionary insignia emblazoned on the underbelly of the plane, shining in the firelight.

* * *

 **(1) you can see a doodle of her at strays-fic dot tumblr dot com, on the cover of chapter 18.**

 **I've found a livestream hiphop mix online to write to and I love it ;_; there's a hot girl animation playing as the music plays and I can just relax and not worry about changing the track every three seconds. Why am I babbling about this? idk. Im sleepy.**

 **Anyway, Haley (from squad four, if you don't remember) and nami knew each other! Wonder what that means for the future? And luffy and the strawhats are in trouble! *waves arms around mysteriously***

 **Review time!**

* * *

 **Lily Amazon, Chapter 15, 18h ago:**

 ** _Hey! You're welcome. I love writing long reviews ahah.  
Shanks and Ace meeting again was so great. And I'm a bit sad thinking about Leo, because obviously things won't go well for him... Yeah, here we are, MIA. I don't know if it's what I've seen but I'm thinking about Izo being Ace's romantic interest. It seems a bit weird but yeah, that's what striked me, their closeness. We haven't seen Pidge in the fourteen chapter *sad*  
But he's there in the following chapter. That one was harsh and weird. I can totally understand Ace's breakdown but not his actions after that. Were I him, I would have gone to Marco or Pops to tell them. He's throwing away years of hard earned trust like it's nothing. Of course going to look for Sabo is important and there's almost no chances for the Revs to allow that, but still. You don't fly away like that.  
So Sabo isn't dead. Have you imagined your own seastone thing ? Which could explain why he suddenly disappeared from Ace's mind without him feeling anything (pain)...  
Anyway, I'll stop reading here for now. I'm not ready to leave Ace's POV yet.  
That was great. Thanks for sharing!_**

 **I'd never actually considered Izo as Ace's love interest but now that I think about it, that's actually really interesting! I might expand on that in the future, idk. As for Ace's actions, I totally agree. He isn't in his right mind. In the future, he'll really come to regret that decision, but for now he's just being a bit of a numpty. And by 'a bit' I mean 'a lot'.**

 **Im sorry to say, there is a little bit of pain..a big bit… D:**

 **Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 17, 16h ago:**

 ** _So as expected I'm loving Luffy's POV already, seeing all these characters I've been wandering about is awesome, and that bonus you told me about, can't wait for it.  
And oh the reunions I feel like by the time they're all done I won't have tears left, I'm really hoping for one big reunion. Also has Zoro shared with Luffy that Ace saved him? I really look foward to knowing how that went, or is going to go.  
I sincerely hope all the horrible experiments done by the government are exposed, and that all those experimented on find happiness. Speaking of which in your art one of the sketches shows Chopper sort of looking up at zoro, I love those two so I wanted to ask, are they going to be close  
Chapter 29 seems so far away, I really want to know what happened to Sabo but seeing as you're writing at an incredible rate and since I'm sure all the chapters in between will be just as interesting I'm happy to wait.  
I feel so bad I didn't review last chapter, I'm really, really sorry. 2 new chapters made me pretty excited as the review probably shows so thank you._**

 **I'm glad you're liking it so far! And I can't wait to write the bonus, it's gonna have a pretty huge revelation :3**

 **As for the reunions – well right now, it's a bunch of confusion interrupted by an explosion, but they will all happen. And the government will fall eventually, but what it's going to take is another story. CHOPPER AND ZORO. I cant imagine an au where they aren't like they are in canon – you know, zoro acts like a freakin older brother at times and I love it. So yes, they will be close, especially after the events of this chapter.**

 **It's fine that you didn't review the last chap, this review is definitely enough! They mean so much to me, thank you so so much :D**

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 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 17, 15h ago**

 ** _Remember to not overwork yourself when you write this~  
POOR LUFF  
Nami spotted the moss ball!  
Update soon~_**

 **I won't overwork myself, don't worry! but thank you for caring :D**

 **Yes, poor luffy! Poor all of them really T-T and nami and zoro…drama waiting to happen amirite.**

 **Ill try to update soon! Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 17, 11h ago:**

 ** _can i just say your update rate is phenomenonal? I'm in love! also Nami/Vivi is the ship to die for believe me you will get no complaints from my gay ass. it was really cool seeing more of Luffy's life, where he's been and what he's doing, and i cant wait for Nami and Zoro to reunite! I've been loving literally every chapter you put out man keep up the good work_**

 ***flails, squealing* thank you so much! And im so glad you like nami/vivi, I love them too :D I don't know what to say to reply, just thank you so much ily. Your reviews are literally the best thing ever.**

 **Ill try to update soon, thank you so much for taking the time to review!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 17, 9h ago:**

 ** _*reading a/n* Oh so Nami's lesbian ? So no Zona then.. Well it would have been kinda weird xD I really hope it's NaVi *-* but I can't see how Vivi could appear in this chapter..*starts reading chap 17* ooh so we've got Robin yeah it's probably going to be Nami x Ro-  
IT'S NAVI YAAAAASSSS ! X333333  
CP9 elite troops not being able to tell a child drawing from a dangerous mark. The Navy these days..  
Ah I was wondering whether or not Robin would have powers in this AU well seems like she does ;3  
Wait is this a reunion ? Already ? THANK YOU gosh I'm so excited but..but my heart is not ready for this.. _  
"Everyone knows Ace" xD Nami doesn't know how true that is..  
I'm looking forward to Nami telling what she's been up to xD like "Shanks freed me (Lu reacts) and I've been looking for that Ace guy ever since" (Zoro reacts, Lu reacts, revelatiooons) I actually wanted Luffy to learn about his island being blown up before he knew his bros were alive ah well you can't have everything in life.  
The scene with Usopp ! *facepalms* How could I forget I loved it soo much though n  
So yor favourite is writing sad reunions ? Cool, these are my fav to read ! :D  
Okay you are doing your job so well like "oh he didn't get blown up, it's worse, don't worry" Don't worry ? DON'T WORRY ? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME OR SOMETHING  
I don't have a CLUE what could have happened to Sab. The worst I can think of is him being tortured and shutting Ace off so that he doesn't feel anything..but that wouldn't explain the bleeding.. Unless Ace just hit his head somewhere (as if.) Did Sabo destroy his mark/ got it destroyed ? Or did he somehow disapear from this reality (lol) ? I honestly have NO IDEA. But I know my mind is gonna explode when we find out and it's gonna be soo great :D  
Again, ily so much for those insane chapters, that insane updating rythm, that insane plot. You. Are. The. Best._**

 **Hi!**

 **Im really glad you like NaVi, it's one of my otps ;_; I love them so much. And yeah irk? Goddamn idiots in the navy these days. And that line about everybody knowing ace? Nami, you just summarized the whole story!**

 **I'm so glad you like sad reunions bc let's face it, that's the entire second half of the story tbh. And yes, you should really be worried abt sabo. he needs worrying about right now.**

 **Well, I can tell you that none of those ideas about what happened to sab are even close right, but I like them! *puts them in notebook as future fic inspo***

 **Thank you for reviewing, i hope you carry on liking what im putting out! It means so much :D**


	19. BONUS CHAPTER - At the Top

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **you can see a doodle for this chapter at the link above! Fair warning, I wouldn't check it out until after you've read the chapter…..spoilersss**

* * *

 **Chapter 19 –** **BONUS CHAPTER** **– At the Top**

* * *

It's been a week since Ace left that night. A week since he and Pidge shot through the window, flew away into the night and didn't return, and the Revolutionary Army have heard nothing from them, and nothing about them, since then. It's frustrating as hell, and Marco has spent so much of the last week pacing that the soles of his shoes feel close to peeling off. Ace isn't the only one of his problems, either; on the contrary, this has been one of the most stressful weeks of Marco's life alongside Ace's disappearance anyway.

First things first, the day after Ace's disappearance, one of their bombers stationed on an island in the south had to use all three of its firebombs and make a quick escape due to the fact that a naval ship stumbled across them. They crashed into the sea three hours later, at around 1am, losing the army two of their most skilled pilots and, more importantly, two of Marco's good friends. They were part of Izo's division, so he's the one most affected, but the whole army have been down for the last few weeks.

As well as this, those bombs were prototypes and they have no way of knowing just how effective they were. They were stationed in the south purely for the purpose of testing, and hiding in wait to strike, only a few hundred miles off the fringe. Marco was able to gather from the vague radio recordings from the cockpit they received that two bombs had to be dropped on the marines' ship before it fully sank and even then, some survivors were seen swimming towards land. Just how ingenious Ace's design is has yet to be seen. The kid spent nearly six months working on it but even then, it's evidently not quite perfect.

And Shanks' movements are as weird as ever - even more so. From what revolutionary spies can gather, he's been subtly circling an island in the east for a few weeks; or, more specifically, the island where one of Teach's executives is currently based. She's one of the only players on the board right now who the rebellion knows little to nothing about. One of the brightest young members of twelfth division (Ace's friend, as a matter of fact) reported a few weeks ago that there may be possible ties between this woman and the navy but aside from that, the Revolutionary Army barely know what she looks like, let alone her history and her power.

And just to top it all off, Marco has a goddamn _doctor's appointment_ to attend to; because apparently, he looks 'unhealthy' in Oyaji's opinion. Marco loves the man, he really does, but sometimes he can be overly doting to the point of ridiculousness. The zoan-user is absolutely _fine_ , thank you very much. Sure, he's a little tired, but it's nothing a little food and rest can't fix. It's nothing medical, and certainly nothing that warrants a visit to the infirmary, especially when he has so much more to do, to sort out. The entire sixteenth division and most of the second division are working their fingers to the bone, trying to gather information on Ace, and Marco needs to provide them with the tools needed to do so.

But unfortunately, before he can skulk off to the other side of the island after lunch, Whitebeard himself comes to Marco's office to accompany him to the infirmary. Scowling but unable to get away from his father, Marco lets himself be lead to the infirmary and pushed down onto a bed. Even then, Oyaji doesn't leave, instead choosing to sit at a (thankfully large) table across the room, and engage one of the patients in a game of cards.

"Alright, Commander, you know why we're here." Old man Herr is just as professional as he ever is, face pock-marked but familiar. He and Marco have known each other ever since Marco was ten, overconfident and willing to throw his life away. Sort of like somebody else he knows-

Damnitt. Marco needs to stop worrying about him.

"I do," replies Marco evenly. "And I also know that there's no reason to worry. You know how Oyaji gets concerned about us. I'm fine – just a little tired. Now, can I leave?"

Herr stares at Marco from over the rims of his glasses for a second, before looking back at his clipboard and clicking his tongue. "Not quite yet, Commander. I've been asked to perform a complete examination."

"What?!" Marco bristles, glancing over at Whitebeard. "That's bullshit! I'm _fine_ , Herr, I'm just busy!"

"Don't care." The old man stands and leads a protesting Marco over to a pair of scales. "Won't be the most accurate because it's the afternoon and you're wearing clothes, but oh well. Might just be a little over. Step on, will you?"

Rolling his eyes, Marco steps onto the scales, stays there for five seconds and then steps off, yawning. "I told you it was nothing to worry about-"

"Marco." The man looks up at Herr, who's staring down at the scales. He looks grave. "You've lost forty pounds in two months."

"Wait, _what?!_ " Marco's shocked exclamation echoes through the infirmary, and a few people turn to look at them. Flushing slightly, Marco lowers his voice. "There has to be a mistake." He glances down at the scale, however, and there it is – 118lb. It's lower than it has been in years and contrary to what would be expected of somebody, Marco is far from pleased.

"It's right there on the scales, Commander. And unless you feel like stripping down in the middle of the infirmary to get a more accurate reading, then that's how it's going to stay," Herr replies. He bustles off for a second, and as Marco is distracted by staring down at the weighing scales in disbelief, there's a sudden sharp sting in his inner arm. "Hold still, I'm just taking a blood sample."

The next few hours are comprised of Marco being put through test after test – he has to have his pulse measured, heart rate and blood pressure taken; he even has to piss in a tube, which is far from a pleasant experience. For the most part, he drifts though it without reacting, considering the sudden weight loss and what it means. When the examination is over, Marco and Whitebeard are ushered out and abruptly find themselves standing outside the doors, facing each other in the darkening hallway. The sun is due to set soon.

"I'm guessing we have something to be concerned about?" Whitbeard asks, not unkindly.

Marco glances up and down the corridor, then down at his wrists. He hadn't noticed just how pale his skin was getting. "I'll be fine until they manage to draw some kind of a conclusion from the data. It's not that bad." He turns away, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I have to get back to work finding him, Oyaji."

The man can feel his father's stare on his back all the way up the corridor and when he reaches its end, Whitebeard calls after him, "Get some rest, Marco. That's an order."

A day later, Herr still hasn't come to a conclusion from whatever readings he's gotten. Somebody else, however, has apparently come to his own conclusion, and takes it upon himself to bodily drag Marco out of the main hall at breakfast.

As soon as they're outside of the hall, Marco wrenches his arm away. "What the hell, Thatch?!" He stops in his tracks, however, upon seeing the anger and anguish glinting in his friend's eyes.

"Losing an insane amount of weight and not telling me?! Picking at your food for months but not letting me know that anything was wrong?! Marco, what the hell possessed you?! I'm the head chef! The least you can do is tell me that you don't like what I'm cooking, or it's making you feel sick, or- or _something!_ But don't just sit there hungry and then make me find out about the fact that you're now on the _medical concerns list_ through the fucking grapevine, you absolute-"

"Thatch!" Marco's sharp voice cuts through his surrogate brother's rambling, shutting him up. "Listen. I don't know what you've heard, but I haven't lost an 'insane amount' of weight, yoi, only forty pounds or so. And I'm not on the medical concerns list – at least, not yet. The results of my examination are inconclusive, yoi."

"So what I heard about hospitalisation, that wasn't true either?" Thatch stares intently into Marco's eyes, as if that will help him to see whether the man is lying.

"No, it wasn't. Just a wild rumour. Thatch. Look at me, yoi." Marco puts his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Listen. I'm fine, and I want you to stop worrying. Yes I'm a little tired, no I'm not hungry, no I don't need to go back to the infirmary. This is just a bit of a rough patch with my health – you know, with the seasons changing, yoi." The lie sounds pathetic even to Marco's ears, but Thatch keeps his mouth shut.

"Okay," the chef mutters, looking at the ground. "If you really expect me to believe that, then follow me."

Promptly standing, Thatch resumes dragging Marco, who rolls his eyes and has, by this point, decided to resign himself to it. The pair go down two flights of stairs, the long way around, until they reach the empty kitchen. It's a little late for breakfast and too early for lunch to be made, so they're alone. Having been sat down at a table, Marco watches with a bemused smile as Thatch dashes around the kitchen, pulling together a platter of sandwiches seemingly out of mid-air and pouring out a pint of surprisingly high-quality ale. Setting the food and drink in front of Marco, the chef sits in front of him and looks from Marco to the food expectantly. "Come on, eat up."

Marco considers saying no point-blank, but at the slightly pained look in the other commander's eyes, he gives in and reaches for a sandwich, trying to hide a smile.

* * *

But of course, Herr calls Marco back to the infirmary later in the evening and this time, Marco doesn't have his father with him. Alone outside of the infirmary doors, the blonde takes a deep breath before striding forwards and pushing the doors open, doing his best to look like he hasn't been stood outside for the last few minutes. A few doctors and nurses glance up and smile as he walks past but apart from that, the only people in the room with their eyes fully focused on Marco are sitting at a desk across the room.

Marco reaches the desk and sits down, smiling at old man Herr and shaking the hand of the eighth division member he vaguely recognises who is apparently sitting in on the consultation. However, the smile falls right off his face when he sees that both Herr and the division member look grave. This evidently isn't going to be a positive consultation, then.

"I'm assuming you came to a conclusion, then?" Marco asks, hands folded in his lap.

"We did," replies Herr, voice even. "This is Tessa. She's one of our experts on Gifts – she specialises in Zoan gifts. We think we might have found reason for concern with your Gift, and, specifically, your overuse of it."

Marco frowns. "How would me overusing my Gift effect my health?" he asks, momentarily caught off-guard.

Tessa clears her throat. "Commander. Some irregular patterns in your vitals, combined with information that we can gather from your yearly routine check-ups, are indicating to us that there is most likely a prolonged overuse issue linked to your Gift that originated as far back as three years ago. In short, you're using your Gift rigorously and regularly to such an extent that your immune system is under near constant attack."

"I'm sorry, _what_?" Marco asks, leaning forwards. "How does this work?"

Sighing, Tessa flips her hair over her shoulder. "Gifts are linked to your physical body; they aren't just confined to the essence of power itself. If a Gift is used too often for too long, the body has to invest more energy into sustaining that usage and less energy into the regulation and protection of basic bodily functions. Essentially, you use so much power sustaining so many phoenixes around the world, Marco, that your body is growing weak. Though you're still physically adept, it most likely won't last."

While Marco is left speechless, Tessa opens a file in front of her and flips through it until she reaches a sheet of paper, heavily written on and overused. "Historically, people suffering from Gift limitation defect - GLD - have been observed to age at a far more rapid rate than is humanly possible, grow weaker physically as time passes, lose weight in sudden, dramatic bursts, and slowly lose all control of their power. In essence, it eats away at them from the inside out, until it destroys them." She clicks the file shut. "Commander, you're standing at the top of a slippery slope. If you continue to overstrain yourself, both physically and in terms of your gift, then soon it'll be too late to save you from this."

"What do you suggest I do?" murmurs Marco, still trying to take it all in. It's always been one of Marco's greatest fears to die of old age, fade away without the revolutionaries at his side, old and grey. If his body is going to crumble someday, he doesn't want it to happen while he's in his forties.

At this point, Tessa bites her lip. "Dr Herr and I have been researching the patterns in your medical history and patterns in your combative history alike, and we have found one thing that correlates with your decline in physical health. While most of your phoenixes are small at birth, they do grow with time. When all of your daemons are small, they are easy for you to handle, but one pattern that has been repeatedly observed within Zoan users is that, _the longer they leave a daemon alive, the harder it is to sustain_. This reminded us of… One particular phoenix, Commander."

"…Wait, are you talking about Pidge?" Suddenly, it makes a lot more sense. He's been declining for the last three years, ever since Pidge grew to a significant size. "Well, it's not much of an issue then, is it?" Marco says, smiling. "If I've survived three years of this, it's not an immediate issue. And in case you didn't notice, Ace is gone. The only way he can get around is through Pidge. If Pidge was to disappear, he would have no way to get from island to island. You also know that the nature of my particular gift is that I can't produce daemons fully-grown, yes? If Pidge was to degenerate, Ace would have nothing."

"We understand all this," Herr cuts in, "But we're in a dangerous position right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Your daemons are the lifeblood of the army. You understand this?" shoots Tessa. Marco nods. "We need them in order to help recruit people, aid people in finding us, offer people refuge; you get the message. However, one commonly observed pattern is that, when a daemon is older, the further it is from the user in question, the quicker they deteriorate. We're talking months here, Marco. In short, Pidge is consistently draining you. He, as well as all the other phoenixes you generate daily, have been eating away at your body for years. But now that Pidge and Ace are most likely out of revolutionary territory, maybe even halfway across the world?" Tessa bows her head. "Your GLD is going to accelerate, and fast."

"So now's the moment you decide," Herr mutters, and his beady eyes glint. "You either degenerate Pidge and leave Ace out there to fend for himself after leaving us, or you stop creating phoenixes to help the army. They both can't continue at the same time – you're going to drive yourself into your grave."

Herr stands, and Tessa follows, straightening her folder and shooting Marco a slightly calculating look. The commander stands too, face blank but mind reeling. He and old man Herr meet eyes. "Thank you for the information, doctor."

"Hmph." Herr turns away. "Let us know when you choose which you care for more, _Commander_."

* * *

Marco leaves the infirmary in a daze. Thatch passes and shoots him a look of concern in the corridors, and when he walks past Vista, the man stops to say, "Marco, you look like you've seen a ghost!"

Marco plans to stay in his room for most of the evening (he does have a lot to think about) but as he's just reaching his room, Scarlet comes racing around the corner and nearly smacks straight into him. "Ah, sorry commander!" she says, straightening her clothes in an attempt to look dignified. "I've been looking for you. All the commanders have been asked to go to the meeting room; it's about Ace."

That's all it takes for Marco to take off running, and Scarlet keeps pace with him all the way to the meeting room. By the time they arrive there, most of the commanders are already seated. None are smiling. There's an envelope sitting at the top of the table, near Oyaji, unopened. Marco and Scarlet take their seats near the head of the table, and Marco leans across, only to blink in confusion when he reads who it's addressed to.

 _Portgas D. Ace,  
Room 409,  
Revolutionary HQ,  
Brownside Island,  
Flevance Region,  
Northern Sea._

"Commanders," rumbles Newgate, and his voice is completely serious. "We just received a letter addressed to one of our missing commanders; the commander of the second division, Ace. While it's hardly moral to open a letter addressed to somebody else – especially somebody as private as Ace – this could help us to find him and bring him home. Some information has recently come to me from Dr Herr, Marco, that this is more important than ever."

Marco looks down at the table, feeling the stares from all around the table on him, and says nothing.

"Well, we can't just read it!" Thatch bursts in, seeming to sense that Marco's in a sticky situation. "It doesn't belong to us!"

"We either read it or risk losing Ace forever – which sounds better to you?" Izo shoots back, eyes firmly on the envelope. "You saw what happened to him four days before he left. Do you really want to leave him out there like that?!"

"Ace can take care of himself," mutters Jozu from across the table. "I like the kid as much as all of you, but we have to move forward now that he's gone-"

"He can 'take care of himself'?! He's eighteen, and psychologically unstable at that, yoi!" Marco raises his head, joining the debate with a scowl on his lips.

"Aside from what Thatch said, what's the harm in reading it? It could at least tell us what caused all of this," Vista puts in, stroking his moustache.

"Settle down. Settle down!" Whitebeard's voice rings out over the table of suddenly squabbling commanders and they all silence immediately. "We'll read the letter, but only because if Ace doesn't come back, it could cause a very real problem." Marco feels his father's gaze on him for a second, before he looks away, back to the letter. All eyes are on it now, as Newgate reaches out and tears it open with his large fingers, just managing not to rip what's inside itself.

As Whitebeard stares at the scrap of paper inside, the envelope falls down towards the table; as the silence expands through the room, Thatch audibly whispers to Scarlet, "Creepy how they knew what room he's in, huh?"

Nobody pays him any heed, however. The leader of the revolutionary army's face is stormy, eyes dark, stare unwavering as he takes in whatever is written on the square piece of paper. The silence continues to grow until it's choking.

"Oyaji…?" Marco asks eventually, as if popping the silence with a needle. "What does it say?"

"This isn't a letter, son." Whitebeard clears his throat and passes the slip of paper down to Marco between two fingers. "It's a photo."

Marco's first impression is of blonde hair, and his second is a single silver eye, the exact same shade as Ace's. His third is of blood. Obviously photographed while the he's lying on the ground or propped up against the wall, the photo shows a blonde teen, eyes blank and misty, staring at nothing. His expression is perfectly blank, completely slack, as if he's unconscious. The entire right side of his face is horrifically mauled, a mess of jagged, raw skin, and there's blood splattered across his clothes. The raw wounds make Marco want to gag. He can make out a fly resting in one of them. They stretch down the right side of his neck and under his shirt.

Putting the photo down on the table, face-down so nobody else can see its contents, Marco looks up at his father. He can feel himself shaking slightly, but realises abruptly that it isn't out of shock. His fists are clenched so tightly his nails feel close to breaking flesh, not because of his horror, but out of anger. Somebody hurt this kid, this kid who looks so much like Ace, so badly that his eyes look glassy and dead. That Marco can see more blood on his skin and clothes than he could imagine a human losing and surviving.

"I think I know who this is, yoi," says Marco quietly. He can sense every person in the room hanging onto his every word. "You saw the resemblance, right? Well, Ace always told us about his younger brother, Luffy, but he had another too, who I'm pretty sure he only told me about. A twin, yoi (1)."

"What's in the photo?" Thatch tries to reach across and snatch it, but Marco is faster and slides it back towards himself, suddenly noticing something on the back.

"Hey, what's that-" Scarlet leans across to look at the writing on the back, her eyebrows raising. Marco feels a chill slip up his spine as he reads the words.

 _'One down, two to go. #49'_

Whitebeard dissolves the meeting shortly after, despite knowing that there's nothing he can do to stop the rumours now. The ominous sentence on the back of the photo rings through Marco's head even as the damn thing is taken away in order for copies to be made. His head hurts, suddenly. Fatigue is heavy and thick over his shoulders.

Before Marco realises it, only he and Oyaji are left in the meeting room. Glancing around, the Zoan Gift user notes in slight surprise that everybody must have left while he was distracted. He knows the talk that is coming now is going to be a bad one; a full on lecture, a guilt-mongering ballad in an attempt to convince Marco of his responsibility towards the revolutionary army. A thinly veiled warning not to let affection and heart get in the way of the rebellion.

Instead, however, Newgate sighs heavily and says, "We're going to get Ace back, son. We will. Before he becomes number two. You won't have to choose between Ace and the rebellion as long as I'm alive. Got that, Marco?"

Marco feels the shock on his face dissolve into affection. He underestimated his father, as he always seems to do. "Of course. Thanks, dad."

One thing's for sure, Marco thinks later that night, staring into the darkness of his room. The next year isn't going to be an easy one. The storm of the new era is brewing, and thunder pours like rain.

* * *

 **(1) ace most likely just said this to marco to save the confusion of explaining the whole thing, tbh**

 ***rubs hands together* angst**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 18, 15h ago:**

 ** _Ah, some nice catching up that slowly turns into chaos muahaha- *coughs*  
Ah healthy dose of Ace, Sabo, and Shanks mentions are good for my soul  
The "update soon"'s I do are almost automatic for me. And I always care for the author, since I know you guys have a real life you should at least partly attend to  
Update soon~_**

 **Im happy to be nursing your soul with ace, sab and shanks! And I do have a real life, but I also have a week off this week so for now, that can be put on hold. Updates probably wont be as insane next week T-T**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 18, 14h ago:**

 ** _okay so you've asked for our sabo theories, and ask and you shall receive~ by text alone its pretty easy to assume Sabo is dead, and there isn't much reason to assume otherwise HOWEVER by the hints you've been giving us its pretty obvious he ISN'T dead, so I think he's being tortured (obviously) I think he's had an eye ripped out (because Sabo is Sabo and he always loses and eye or gets burned or scarred facially SOMEHOW) aaaaand since you keep hinting what is happening is REALLY terrible I think he's had his memories erased somehow by the navy to be their perfect soldier. On to my review! its really cool seeing where Haley was before she joined the rebellion, and what Nami was up to. I'M FUCKING DYING BECAUSE SANJI KNOWS SABO ASDFGHJKL also that Luffy Shanks Is My Father reveal was almost better than the canon Dragon Is My Father reveal to Ivankov, I loved it! Oooooo I wonder what the revolutionaries were bombing, like was it on purpose aiming for something they couldn't see (Ace? since you know he straight up ditched the revs with presumably a lot of rev secrets) or if they just missed and were aiming for the navy warship the whole time. On to my questions! Does Zoro not know that the entire east has pretty much been Wrecked, or was Nami referring to something else? or the same thing by a different name that Zoro didn't recognize? Feel free not to answer if its spoilers! Keep up the good work, I love this story so much I am so so so addicted_**

 **your sabo theory is the most close I've gotten so far, but still ridiculously far off. It's cool to know what you think, though! Im so glad you like seeing a bit more haley! As for Nami, yes, she's…..so cute….i love her?**

 **As for sabo and Sanji – I'd suggest re-reading chapter three. They do have a history. A whoooole lotta history.**

 **Neither luffy nor any of the monster trio know to the full extent what happened with the Eastern Terror (which was the bombing of all major islands in the east), but they have a vague idea. They don't know the term 'eastern terror', as it's only really used by the revs and people under their control.**

 **Im so glad you like this! im currently in the middle of reading one of your fics and I gotta say, you are a author. *puts hand on heart* im so feely ugh. Please keep up the amazing reviews, ily!**

* * *

 **Guest chapter 18 . 10h ago**

 ** _Oh a revelation, I didn't think it was possible but now I'm even more excited to read the bonus scene.  
Yes! Knowing they're going to be close makes me so so happy, thanks. I love how you've managed to get pretty much all the strawhats together already.  
I'm not very imaginative and I'm sure it's wrong but since you asked and you do so much here goes what I think happened to Sabo, I think his mark was burned in the explosion and that broke the connection, also I think he lost his memories so he doesn't think anything is wrong (you've said repeatedly it was worse than him being dead and that isn't but I really don't want to think about it). Every mention of Ace makes my heart flutter, he's one of my faves.  
So now the revs are also bombing, I've got mixed feelings about that, well at least it was an uninhabited island (and our poor strawhats), maybe tests?  
Thanks again and the new art is amazing, is that Leo and are those fangs?_**

 **Bonus scene here! I hope you like the multiple revelations. And the angst. *cackles***

 **Your sabo theory is…quite close, but not quite there. Nobody's guessed it yet, so Im pretty proud of coming up with a plot nobody can crack! :D and yes, ace is one of my All-Time Faves Ever too. Sab too, and of course the luff.**

 **Yes that was leo! Sorry if the teeth looked sorta fangy, I tend to draw him like that subconsciously D: I can assure that leo isn't a vampire in anything aside from personality!**

* * *

 **Thank you so so so much for all your reviews, you guys are heckin incredible and I love you all so much.**


	20. 2-4 - The Great Escape

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **QUICK EXTRA WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER: MISSING LIMBS**

 **….yes, seriously**

* * *

 **Chapter 20 – The Great Escape**

* * *

 _And I'll rise up,_

 _High like the waves  
I'll rise up,  
In spite of the ache  
I'll rise up  
And I'll do it a thousand times again_

- **Andra Day,** ** _Rise Up_**

* * *

It's raining.

It's been raining since the explosion. Luffy can remember the hiss of rain as it hit the fire. It's been a week, and Zoro and Sanji still haven't woken up. He doesn't know much about what happened to them when the bomb was dropped (except for Sanji. That much is pretty obvious) but, deep down, really wants them to move just to prove that they're still alive. It took _him_ three days to wake up, and he felt the worse he's ever felt then, so they must be feeling like shit, Luffy considers from his chosen perch on the porch railing.

The seven – He, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Franky, Brook and Nami – are camping out at this weird cabin in the jungle. Franky said it might be where the pilots of the bomber plane stayed, and when they dropped the first firebomb on the island they must have been trying to destroy this place. However, the bomb missed and hit the south tip instead. Apparently on their second try, the bombers most definitely didn't miss. Luffy now carries evidence of that on his body, though if he's honest, it doesn't bother him too much.

The teen looks down at his left hand contemplatively. It's still wrapped tightly in bandages, courtesy of Chopper, and his three remaining fingers look sorta cool, like a claw. It's not too bad. He could have ended up losing as much as Sanji did in the explosion, miles of flesh blown off as the blonde tried to protect Nami.

Luffy wonders for a second where the others are. Chopper is probably still tending to the wounded. Nami might be writing one of those weird letters in the attic of the cabin, which she's claimed as her room. She hasn't spoken much since she woke up after the explosion – their conversation before it about Shanks and Ace and everything seems entirely forgotten, really. The last time Luffy checked, Brook and Franky were out scouring the island. It's barely a mile in length, and the cabin is hidden in a strip of jungle that runs up the middle. Luffy would go out to look for them and explore the island himself, always eager for adventure, but today he's under doctor's orders to stay near the cabin so Chopper can bring him inside to change his bandages.

Quickly growing bored – it's really hard to stay still this long! – Luffy is about to get up and go in, maybe annoy Nami a little, when he hears the door opening behind him. Slipping off the railing, the teen turns, being met with the sight of Chopper standing in the doorway, first-aid kit in his hand (hoof, technically, Luffy supposes).

"Oh, hey Chopper!" Luffy beams.

"H-Hi, Luffy," replies Chopper. His now-animalistic face is tired and worn. "I need to change your bandages, and I wanted to let you know that it looks like Zoro's waking-"

Luffy has moved past Chopper and through the doorway as soon as he says the word 'Zoro'. The cabin itself isn't particularly big. The living room, comprised of two couches and a low coffee table, has been made into a temporary doctor's office – Sanji is laid out on the coffee table, a pillow beneath his head, and Zoro is staring at them groggily from a couch in the corner.

"Zoro! You're awake!" Luffy practically flies across the room to roughhouse the swordsman into a hug that is most likely doing no good for his injuries. The seventeen-year old grunts with pain but accepts the affection grudgingly, shoving the leech off after a few seconds and obviously trying to hide his smile.

"How long have I been out?" Zoro asks, trying to sit up with a wince. It doesn't help that Luffy is sitting on his feet.

"A whole week! Hey, have you slept for long enough yet? Can you come out and see the island now?!"

"He wasn't asleep, he was unconscious!" Chopper pipes up from the other couch, but ducks his head when Zoro looks at him. "It would be best for your injuries if you stayed in bed for a little while longer."

Zoro looks like he's about to argue before he sighs and says, "Fine. But as long as somebody tells me what happened back there. I don't remember much," he admits.

Luffy's face falls abruptly. "Oh."

Raising an eyebrow, Zoro repeats, "Oh?"

"Now that you're awake, Sanji's the only one still asleep – ah, sorry Chopper, unconsi-whatzits. Whatever it is. After the plane dropped the second bomb, the mast fell on him, and he caught most of the blast too. We think he'll be okay, though. Nami and the others are okay too, though Nami was upset 'cause her ear got torn up. She lost her earing." Luffy cocks his head to this side. "She said her girlfriend gave it to her, so she's sad."

Zoro glances across to the coffee table, long enough to be used as some kind of gurney, and it takes him a moment to assert just what's wrong with Sanji. When he does, however, the teen nearly gags, and looks away quickly. Even with an iron stomach like Zoro's, the sudden change is so disconcerting and so unimaginable that he can't keep his eyes on Sanji for more than a few seconds. It's not particularly gruesome – the wound itself is covered in bandages. But the implications of the wound are horrifying.

"You-" Chopper interrupts his thoughts, staring up at Zoro wide-eyed. "You got slashed across the chest by a piece of shrapnel, and there was blood in the water and you nearly died and you still carried me away from the explosion. Thank you-" He sniffs. "Thank you…!"

Zoro looks down at Chopper blankly for a minute, before letting the smile he's been smothering spread across his face. "It's no big deal, Chopper. If this idiot-" -He pulls on Luffy's cheek and releases it with a smack- "-Says we're family now, it's not a big deal." He's never been one for grand gestures, but Zoro thinks it's enough.

Judging by the fact that Chopper attaches himself to his face half a second later, practically bawling, Zoro reckons he's done okay. Still sitting on his feet and laughing now, Luffy grins and says, "We found some pairs of clothes in one of the rooms upstairs. There should be some stuff up there for you, once Chopper lets you out of bed. For now-" Luffy leans forward and hooks his feet under the couch cushions, pinning Zoro down with a mischievous grin. "You're staying here."

"Motherfuck- You too?" The look of betrayal on Zoro's usually stoic face is enough to make Luffy lose it again. "Asshole."

"Don't try to shove me off – captain's orders," snickers the fifteen-year old.

"We're still being pirates, huh?"

Pressing closer to his friend, Luffy laughs and says, "Of course we are!" Outside, the rain continues to pour, but in here, they're happy.

* * *

Sanji comes to consciousness slowly; it feels like floating to the surface of a great ocean. The entire left side of his body is numb, and he can feel something hard beneath him. His eyes feel crusted over and lethargic, and it takes him a few minutes just to muster the energy to open them. When he does, Sanji finds himself staring up at a dimly lit wooden ceiling, flickering with the light of what looks like a guttering candle somewhere to his right. He can feel that his eyes are half-lidded, face blank. It feels for a second like he can't move a muscle, paralysed.

A second later, the spell breaks and Sanji shoots up in bed, panting and gasping as memories flood his brain. Flames flowering at his feet. A second blast powering into him from the left – ears ringing so loudly the crackling of fire is drowned out. Being thrown away from the ship, salt water and sand filling his mouth. Agony ripping through him. Large, metallic arms circling around his chest, pulling him from the shallows, stained red in the moonlight. Silence.

The feeling is hard to explain. Everything past his left shoulder is completely void of sensation. Sanji feels sickeningly lopsided – if he stood, it feels like he would fall to the right, with nothing to hold him down on the left. However, he knows the sensation of anaesthetic well. Whatever happened to his left arm must have been bad enough to warrant a completely numbing painkiller.

Planning to measure the damage, Sanji glances down at his left arm and freezes.

There's a rounded cone of bandages around the place where his left arm should start. The tan of his shoulder, toned and muscular, ends abruptly behind a cross-hatch of clinical gauze. The bandages extend in a flat line down his side, past his armpit and down to the middle of his ribs. They obscure any evidence that his arm was there to begin with. His remaining arm, shaking violently, comes up to cup the place where the missing limb should be. Sanji can feel that his eyes are blown wide, uncomprehending. The pieces refuse to add up in his mind.

This has to be a nightmare. Some monstrous, all-too-detailed nightmare. Soon he'll wake up back at base 49, sleeping alongside Zoro and Luffy and a hundred other teen soldiers, and this whole shitstorm will be far behind him. Sanji can't drag his eyes away from his shoulder. Any minute now and surely, he'll wake up.

"Wake up," he finds himself whispering fiercely to himself. "Wake up already."

But nothing happens. Tears of frustration and anguish build in Sanji's eyes, stinging them as he sniffs hard. Nobody stirs, and the only sound in the room is the quiet pattering of tropical rain outside. Regret and horror and a million other feels swell up inside him as the realisation hits; this isn't a dream. It isn't an illusion. He's lost a limb. He's never going to get it back. The dream of becoming a chef – of following in the footsteps of the man he used to hear bedtime stories about, Red-Leg Zeff – is gone. You can't do shit with one arm. Sanji isn't anything anymore.

Sanji tries to pull himself away from the downward spiral of his thoughts with limited success. Finally managing to tear his eyes away from the stump that once was his arm, he glances around, taking in his surrounds. He's lying on a long table in the middle of what looks like some kind of lounge or living room. In the corner, a candle flickers pathetically in a pool of its own wax, lighting up wooden walls and illuminating two couches on either ends of the room and one door. The first couch has three occupants – Zoro, pale, lying beneath Luffy. Chopper is lying on Luffy's back, and in their little dogpile of limbs, all three are smiling in their sleep. They appear to be in their own little bubble of contentment. As Sanji watches, Luffy burrows his head further into Zoro's shoulder, and Zoro bats him back with a sleepy frown, before they both relax once more.

On the other couch sits Nami, head tilted back and fast asleep. She's most definitely not smiling. When his eyes becoming a little clearer, Sanji can make out a yellowing bruise on her cheek and a few minor burns running up her forearms. There are three stitches in her right earlobe, where her golden earing used to be. In her lap, her hands are curled around a few sheets of paper, and there's a pen abandoned at her side. As Sanji's watches, her head lolls slightly to the side and she slips slightly down the back of the sofa.

Even when surrounded by his friends like this, Sanji has never felt so alone.

It feels like only he and his flat, smooth shoulder exist in the world. He doesn't know where to go, or even where they are, but he needs to get out – needs to get away before he goes mad. It's too much to process. The shock hits in intervals, stabbing through him in short bursts of hysteria. His arm was blown off. It's simply gone. Sanji's ability to cook and fight and live like a normal human being is gone.

Lurching to his feet with nausea flooding him like a drug, Sanji stumbles from the room like somebody frenzied, insane. It's a miracle that nobody hears the racket he's making. The corridor outside of the door is dark, but not so dark that he can't find his way. Every step feels like moving with a new body and time he moves his right arm, his left seems to throb with discomfort. Sanji barely makes it past the porch, struggling along on limbs that refuse to obey him, before he collapses onto the cold, hard ground and gags, feeling darkness swarm in from all sides. There's nothing in his stomach to vomit so Sanji crouches, sickness and panic rolling through him, heaving with every breath he manages to drag in.

When the gagging finally stops, there's a trail of saliva hanging from the corner of Sanji's mouth and he swipes it away, feeling his right hand shaking with the action. He has to sit back on his heels just to stay upright with how uncoordinated and unbalanced he is now. Feeling something wet slip down his cheek and not fighting it, Sanji collapses against the porch railing, feeling it dig into his back, shoulder still numb. Rain tickles his skin. Tipping his head back, Sanji stares at the sky without really seeing it and sobs like he never has before.

* * *

It feels like no time has passed at all before Sanji snaps awake, staring up at the wooden ceiling once more. The rain has stopped. His skin is dry, but still cold, and it feels like he's only been out of the rain for a few hours at most. The room around him is alive with activity. This time, he's been sat on a couch instead of on the table.

"Sanji?" Luffy pops into his field of vision, holding a towel. He smiles upon seeing that his friend is awake and raises his head, yelling, "Hey, guys! Sanji's awake!"

"Don't care," comes Zoro's voice from the corner immediately.

"Sanji, you're awake!" Chopper calls, darting into his field of vision along with Luffy. "Stay still! You were out in the rain for a few hours, that increases the risk of getting pneumonia, and that could be deadly with how much blood you lost in the explosion – and your arm is showing signs of infection! And-"

"Sanji!" Nami's fist impacts with his skull a second later from the side, and he turns his head dazedly to meet her gaze. There's thinly-masked relief in her eyes that he's awake, and his heart swells. "What were you thinking, going out there in the middle of the night?! You were drenched by the time we realised you were out there! You're lucky you're already half covered in bandages or Chopper would've had to scrape up even more for the beating you're going to get!"

Despite the harshness of her words, Sanji can tell that they aren't true. "Sorry, Nami, Chopper," he says quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Evidently neither were expecting an apology but they both seem pleased; Chopper dances around ridiculously, telling Sanji that he _doesn't need his apologies, you bastard_. Nami rolls her eyes but smiles all the same and says, "It's okay, just don't do that again."

Judging by the light seeping in through the corridor, Sanji can guess that it's around dawn, and the birds are striking up a chorus outside. In the corner, Zoro is sharpening his swords and looking sullen. Luffy is casually hanging from the ceiling on the other side of the room, assumably trying to make himself into the world's first human yo-yo. It's not long before Franky and Brook turn up, covered in leaves and branches but with some interesting stories to tell about the island. Twice, Nami argues with Zoro, and twice she wins.

Sanji watches the scene from the couch, Chopper changing his bandages, with a sense of detachment. When asked a question by somebody, he responds quietly, and for the most part he's ignored. It gives him time to think.

Eventually, by the time Luffy detatches himself from the ceiling, Sanji has a plan. "Luffy?" he calls, just before the kid can make it out of the door. Luffy stops and turns back to him, cocking his head to the side questioningly.

"Yeah?"

"Once we find a way off this island, you can drop me off just outside the fringe. Wherever you guys are going, it's probably well out of the south, right? Well, you can leave me just away from the naval territory. I should be fine from-"

"What do you mean?"

Sanji looks up. Luffy, as well as everybody else in the room, is staring at him. "I mean, you have to move forward, right? I can't fight, Luffy. I can barely stand. I get that we're friends, but-"

"You're being stupid." Luffy turns towards the room at large, a despairing look on his face. "Guys, he's being stupid!"

"No I'm not, I'm being realistic! I can't fight like this! I'm not useful!"

Luffy nearly growls, a sound that startles Sanji into silence. "I didn't take me with you because you're useful, I took you with me because you're my friend! We all want you with us, Sanji!"

"You're seriously considering taking a man with no arm off on some big adventure with you? Luffy, I don't-"

"Shut up!" Luffy abruptly decides that the conversation isn't worth paying any attention to anymore and turns away, picking his nose and looking disinterested. "Come on, Zoro, let's go find some food!"

"Fine." Yawning, the swordsman stands and moves to follow his self-elected 'captain' out of the cabin. At the door, he turns to Sanji and says simply, "You're staying."

"Yeah, you're with us. If I got roped into this mess, you're not getting out of it," Nami agrees, stretching back across the other couch like a cat. "Plus, it's not like you're useless. You fight with your legs, so as long as you have them you'll be fine, Sanji-kun."

"Nami-san…"

"They're right, Sanji-san!" Brook, with a small fracture in his skull now, produces an electric guitar seemingly out of nowhere and gives it a long, low strum. "Why, I have tears in my eyes from your inspirational courage –but I-"

"You don't have eyes, yeah!" Chopper finishes enthusiastically, wrapping the last of the bandages around Sanji's torso. The anaesthetic is just starting to wear off (he can feel the stump starting to throb against the bandages). Brook sinks to his knees in despair at having his joke stolen out from under his metaphorical nose, and Sanji laughs. His throat rasps slightly, but the sound is genuine, and it feels good coming out of his mouth.

"Once we get to a decent workshop, I can totally build you a robotic arm!" Franky strikes a pose. "How does it sound – Mecha-Sanji? SanRobo? Roboji?"

Sanji grimaces. "No thanks." The sweet moment is gone, but he doesn't stop smiling all day.

The next morning, Sanji throws himself into training as if he's strengthening a whole new body entirely. Luffy offers to spar him and Sanji takes up the offer – and of course, for the first few hours, he falls and is beaten over and over again. He screams at Luffy time and time again, that he can't do it, that this is a waste of time and he'll never fight again. Luffy ignores this and pulls the teen to his feet, starting yet another fight. Sanji scoffs at how pitiful he looks now, knees scraped up and clothes torn from impact after impact with the ground, face bright red. His entire body is aflame with agony, but after a full morning of defeat after defeat, at least he has gained his sense of balance back.

Through the afternoon, Sanji and Luffy work on adapting some of his moves – handstands becoming one-handed, flips veer to the right instead of the left, his left leg is put into practice over and over protecting his ribs from damage now that his left arm no longer can. By the end of the day, both Sanji and Luffy are left panting on the forest floor, both grinning broadly. Sanji can just about match his captain right now, after a day of sweat and tears.

Tommorow he'll fight Zoro and Franky and Brook, all competent fighters, and that won't be easy now that he's still unused to this new style of fighting. But tomorrow will come, and Sanji will beat it. Luffy had faith in him, and that pushed him to do something incredible today. Why can't that happen again tomorrow? Soon, Sanji hopes to be back up to his usual strength. Sure, it'll take time, and a whole lot of effort, too. But Sanji's going to do it - if not for himself, then for the boy who gave him hope again.

Looking slightly dopey, probably from too many kicks to the face, said boy props himself up against a tree. "Me and my brothers used to do this," he says, a glint of fondness in his brown eyes.

"Wait!" Sanji can't believe he forgot. Pushing himself up into a sitting position, Sanji says, "You said something about someone called Sabo a week ago, before the explosion. How do you know him? I used to know somebody called Sabo, and it's hardly a common name."

Luffy fiddles with the end of his shirt, thick with mud. "You used to know Sabo? Cool! He might have told me about you." His young face softens and looks, if anything, even more youthful. "Sabo's my big brother."

"By blood?" Sanji can feel his heart sinking.

"Nah. But by everything that matters," Luffy yawns. "We met when I was just a kid. Hey, didn't you same sometime you came from the west? Maybe you did know him. Sabo came from the west, too."

"From an orphanage?" Sanji sits up, not daring to believe it but hope growing inside him all the same.

Luffy shrugs. "Dunno. He never told me. He might have told Ace, though…"

"Is he alive?!" Sanji asks, sitting up straighter.

"Of course he is!" For the first time, Luffy frowns. "My brothers are really strong. And Nami said she knows Ace, too, so he must be alive. I hope they're together…"

"Yeah, well I hope she isn't dating him," Sanji grumbles, breaking the tension. Luffy laughs.

"Don't worry, Sanji, she was telling me about her girlfriend yesterday!"

"Wha- WHAT?!"

Luffy collapses into hopeless giggles as Sanji nearly topples over, red in the face. "Ahaha! You like her!"

"She's a beautiful lady – of course I do!"

"I don't think she likes you ba-ack~!"

"Shuddup!"

* * *

 **Yay sadness!**

 **If you feel like me drawing the strawhats as they are now, drop me a review and I'll give it a try! Yes, I was very mean to them, but it serves the purpose of making the group stronger for the future. They'll be okay in the end. And Sanji AKA Edward Elric amirite**

 ***whispers* also somebody correctly guessed what happened to sab lmao**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 18, 11h ago:**

 ** _Heya !  
The way you wrote that fight scene.. It was perfect. I loved every word of it. Thank you T-T  
Oh how I adore Sanji and Zoro's rivalry and inferiority complex xD Sanji's thoughts made me think of that time in Zou :  
Luffy : You won't regret it, Sanji's as strong as 1000 men !  
Nekomamushi : Okay.  
Zoro : Then I'm worth 2000 men !  
Nami (patting his head) : Hai, hai''  
Hahaha Zoro and Nami start bickering about two secs after being reunited xD when you think about it, out of the three, Haruta is the one who got the best fate.. And there they are arguing and feeling guilty about leaving her _''  
Poor Sanji he's gonna fall into a depression when he finds out Nami's with Vivi..  
Merry's here ! :3 *reads end of the chapter*... Okay so she got blown up ? It was short T-T  
Ooh, another reunion ? Great ! Umm, are you intending on sketching Haley as well ? Cause I just looved Leo's chara design -though I'd have liked to see a bit more of his outfit- his crying face was the best ! Now that I can picture him clearly, I feel even sadder about what happened to him TnT  
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING SHANKS UP NAMI you unlocked allll the revelations I'm so damn happy ! Aand of course, during more than three years (?) of living together Luffy hasn't mentionned Sabo's name in front of Sanji even once xD  
NOOOO Begone damn plane, interrupting such an important moment !  
Oh so it's the revs. Hope that means more reunions *w*  
What if Blackbeard had taken over the marine base Sabo was in and trapped him into his shadows ? That would explain some things. And the attack could have provoked enough ruckus to actually help Luffy escape on that day.. I dunno just some crappy theory I made '  
Okay I just checked and theres a new chapter. I failed - posting this anyway  
Off to read, love ya !_**

 **Hey! *whispers* oh my god I love your reviews**

 **I'm so glad you liked the fight scene and the dynamics between the two! Yes, zoro is a complete dork and I want to hug him (even though he would probably cut me in two). And the thing with those three is pretty ironic, huh?**

 **I think he has a lot more to fall into a depression about after this chapter…. Ohmygodimsosorry**

 **Don't worry, that wasn't** ** _merry_** **merry. Soon they'll get her, and luffy'll probably be like 'hey! New ship! Let's name her after that one old ship we had!' I'll try to sketch haley if I have time, but tomorrow is when I have to return to the real world after my week in paradise (aka week off) so chapters and art might be slow.**

 **Your theory…..not quite. But close. Ish. You're getting there. Somebody has guessed it right, but I can't say who.**

 **I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and this one!**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 19, 16h ago:**

 ** _Nonononono dON'T REMOVE PIDGE  
...sadly it has to happen ;-;  
Sleep and eat, child.  
Update soon~_**

 **Yes I know im so sorry ;_; but he has to go…or DOES he?!**

 **Dun dun dun**

 **Thank you for reviewing, you're the best!**

* * *

 **Guest , Chapter 19, 10h ago:**

 ** _Poor Sabo I'm assuming 49 refers to base 49 the same one the monster trio was at? Whatever it is it needs to burn, slowly, to the Ace had stayed I wander hoe badly he'd have taken seeing that.  
And Marco? I nearly had an attack when it seemed he'd have to choose. I really hope they can somehow contact Ace, maybe Pidge could act as a messenger. I guess I'll have to wait to see what happens next.  
Tough chapter but amazing as always._**

 **49 refers to a lot of things…..**

 **Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and reviewing! Im glad the marco bit had an impact on you, wonder what's gonna happen? *wiggles hands mysteriously***

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 19, 9h ago:**

 ** _oKAY SO I'M SCREAMING YOUR READING ONE OF MY FICS WHAT my friend is making fun of me cuz I'M FLIPPING OUT and she keeps whispering "senpai has noticed you" she'snotwrongasdfghjkp on to my actual review! I love love LOVED this chapter bc not gonna lie I was SO curious about how the revs were reacting to Ace leaving (I had no idea if they'd be more angry or betrayed, so it was really interesting to see the mixed reaction) ... would you laugh if I said I am actually re reading the fic right now, but i only just started chapter 3? ahh the irony sO YOUR A/N STILL IMPLIES SABO IS ALIVE BUT THE EVIDENCE AGAINST THAT IS STACKING UP YOU AR THIS BOY (also I'm intrigued af that none of us have managed to guess what it is yet... that reveal is gonna blow our fucking minds isnt it) this chapter was like the only good part of today because work sucked but this chapter sure as hell didnt! keep up the good work!  
WAIT I WAS ABOUT TO POST THIS BUT A THEORY JUST CAME TO MIND IS SABO IN A COMA BECAUSE THAT WOULD EXPLAIN WHY HE SUDDENLY ISN'T COMMUNICATING WITH ACE ASDFGHKLVNEO dontspoilanything4meplz_**

 **IM SENPAI? OHMYGODIMSCREAMING**

 **Yes, I was reading Control! And now I'm hooked! You're a really good author? I'm reading it on my phone so I cant review but rest assured, I'm really excited to see where it goes and saboace is one of my favourite OTPs ever.**

 **I'm so glad you liked the chapter and that you're getting more and more curious! Thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 19, 8h ago:**

 ** _Haha calling this bonus when it's so important for the whole plot xD Wait does Luffy have only 14chaps then ?  
NOOOOOO ! Not Pidge... That's so unfair X'C ! Why are u being so cruel ?  
Okay so crap my darkness theory x) So I'm guessing whatever they did to Sabo somehow partially (?) erased/burned/destroyed his mark.. Poor Sab x'c  
So he was in base 49 ? Or does that mean the bad guy is ? Or is it a clue that he's going to go after Luffy next ?  
Is the "traitor character" you were talking about responsible for all of this ? If so, my first guess would be Leo as I feel he hasn't been fully exploited yet and... Well, he did share Ace's room. No idea what his motives could be though.  
Anyway amazing chapter my brain is overloaded right now xD  
You rock !_**

 **Hi!**

 **Luff is still going to have 15 chapters, don't worry! and as for Pidge… yes, im very evil. As demonstrated by this chapter.**

 **The traitor character isn't responsible for all of this, they've just sort of been dragged into the centre of the storm. I feel far more empathy for them than I would most traitor characters. And that's the only clue you're getting!**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing!**


	21. 2-5 - Thicker than Blood

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **My thoughts and wishes are with all those affected by the recent terror attacks in Britain and around the world alike. We can't let hate divide us. Hate extremists, yes, but I implore you to learn to love your Muslim brothers and sisters,** ** _please_** **. Hate breeds hate. Only love can stop it. It's very easy to hate right now, but we can't let it consume us.**

 **I love all of you.**

* * *

 **Chapter 21 – Thicker than Blood**

* * *

"Okay, plan!"

Nami slams her hands down onto the table and looks around at the six pirates with their eyes glued on her. In front of her, on the long table that was once Sanji's operating table, she's spread out a large and detailed map, held down at the corners by paperweights. All seven 'Strawhat Pirates', as Luffy's dubbed them, are sitting around it, either crowded onto the couches and partially sitting on each other, or sitting on the floor.

Nami reaches across and circles one area of the map, mostly made up of ocean, with the tip of her finger. "If my estimations are right, we're just around here, only a few hundred miles off the southern fringe. If we can cross the fringe, we're out of here and into the no-man's land between the east and west. It's a bit of a dangerous place to be, but I know for a fact that Shanks has an archipelago under his protection here." She taps one spot just outside of a long line dividing the map, assumably symbolising the southern fringe. "He's been using it as a refuge for people trying to get away from the Eastern Terror for years. We should be safe enough there, and there are a few small cities where we can stock up."

"Do you think we could see Shanks?!" pipes up Luffy. "I miss him! I haven't seen him in _ages_." Luffy emphasises just how long 'ages' is by stretching out his arms and accidently socking Zoro across the face.

"As far as I know he should be near the archipelago, but I can't be sure," Nami replies. "Shanks is pretty unpredictable. He might be trying to face down Blackbeard again. Sometimes he even visits the revolutionary HQ, from what me and Vivi can gather."

Luffy deflates slightly at this, but still looks hopeful. "Okay, well I'll see him eventually! Ace and Sabo, too!"

"I still meant to talk to you about that," Nami says, seriously. "A teenager saved me and Zoro from out home island when it was blown up four years ago. I found out later on from Vivi and Shanks that his name was Ace. If you have a brother called Ace, Luffy, and Shanks told me he knows the Ace who saved us… Are they the same person? Did your brother save us all those years ago?"

Luffy hums in consideration, crossing his arms. "I dunno- probably. I mean, Ace seems like the type of guy to do that. Did he have another guy with him? With blonde hair?"

"Nope." Nami pops the 'P', and Luffy's face dissolves into confusion.

"That's weird… Why would they have split up?"

"We're getting off-topic, sis!" Franky calls from his place on the couch, seeming to take up half of the room with his massive girth.

"Ah, sorry." Nami clears her throat. "So once we've spent a few days at the archipelago, we're free to go wherever the hell we like. The only place I have to be is Kaira, and if you absolute morons keep me from there somehow, I'm either leaving you in an ocean of debt or the literal ocean. Your choice. Now." She claps her hands. "Where are you guys planning to go now you're free?"

There's a moment of silence before Sanji says, "I'd like to meet up with Sabo, now that I know he's alive. And try to re-learn how to cook with- well, without this." He gestures to the stump.

"I want to thank Ace," Zoro mutters next. "And try and find Haruta. It'd be cool to see whether I can help with the rebellion, too."

"My home island is in the north!" Franky says, ever enthusiastic. Every time he speaks, Luffy's eyes fill with stars. "We used to call it 'Water 7'. It'd be SUPERR to visit!"

"I have nowhere in particular to be," Brook puts in next. "Just travelling with all of you is enough."

I want to see my brothers!" cheers Luffy. "Though most of you want to see them, too. Why does everybody know my brothers?"

Zoro snorts, crossing his arms. "Hell if I know."

"Me and Vivi used to joke that Ace 'knows the whole ocean' because he helped Kaira start a revolution a few years ago," Nami giggles.

"I'd like to stay with you guys too," Chopper adds, voice small but audible from where he sits, sandwiched in between Brook and Franky. "And joining the revolution sounds awesome!"

"Okay, so let's say we head to Kaira first, then Water 7, then the Revs' HQ?" Nami suggests, tracing her finger along the route. "It won't be easy to get through, mind. I don't even know how we're going to get off this island, let alone through the devastation that is the east right now."

"It can't be that bad," Sanji says, "Right?"

Nami looks between Sanji, Zoro and Luffy. The latter pair are sitting up on the couch, the former on the floor between them, resigned to the fact that Luffy's foot is resting on the top of his head. All of them are still wearing their ruined old military clothing, and are wrapped in so many bandages that it looks like some sort of fashion statement.

"None of you have crossed the southern fringe in years, right?" Nami asks. All three nod in assent. "It's pretty obvious. The situation in the east is beyond saving. The revolutionaries have moved out, because there's nothing to control anymore. Only a few major islands remain, and they're bound to get blown up soon. So many toxic explosives have been used there over the last four years that the sea in the east is practically impossible to swim in without risking poisoning, or even death in some areas. Blackbeard still has control of the east, but there's not much there to put his name to. He's trying to extend his power west but that's going awfully too, because he's being attacked on all sides – the government in the east, the revolutionary army in the west."

"So Blackbeard's falling, but he's taking the eastern area with him?" Sanji asks.

"Yes, exactly. All the major cities in the east are long gone by now. Loguetown was one of the first to go, then Edgetown – that's when people started to panic. Soon Shells Town was gone, Conomi, even little islands like Syrup Village. So many have died. I mean, it's called the Eastern Terror for a reason. But you wouldn't have heard about it in that way, being in the south for the last four years. The government are engaging in total war tactics with Blackbeard and he doesn't have the weapons to parry it."

Luffy glances up from the map. "Wait, Edgetown is gone too?"

Every eye in the room lands on him, and it suddenly becomes obvious where Luffy really comes from. "Yes," replies Nami grimly. "Is that your home island?"

"Mmhm." Luffy sinks down in his seat. "You guys said you saw Ace, right? I hope Sabo got out…"

When Zoro and Sanji are finally deemed healthy enough to continue travelling, bandages removed and decked out in new clothes, Luffy takes a second to look at his friends fully on the morning of their departure, taking in their injuries for the first time. The diagonal slash across Zoro's chest, laced with stitches from his right shoulder to his left hip, is dark and raised on his tanned skin. Like Nami, there are a few speckled burn scars on his forearms. Sanji's stump is still bandaged and probably will be for a while, and while he complains endlessly about having to knot the arm of everything he wears at the armpit, Luffy can tell that he's still struggling with the loss of the limb. Who wouldn't be?

As Luffy takes them in, Nami comes through the cabin door behind them and into the sunlight, long hair loose in curls over her shoulders. She's the only one who managed to get out of the explosion cloths intact. She just about managed to salvage her backpack from the wreckage the other day, but didn't manage to save her bo staff, something she'll need to replace when they reach the archipelago. Until then, she says, she'll have to fight hand to hand. Of course, Sanji has valiantly offered to defend her time after time, but she politely but firmly rejects his offers of chivalry every time. Luffy knows she's going to fit in.

From the door behind her soon emerge Chopper and Franky, one asking the other questions excitedly, obviously enthusiastic to hear about the new moves Franky wants to develop when they get to the archipelago. Now that he's more at ease with them, Chopper is actually pretty likeable – childish but endearing, and enthusiastic about the most trivial of things. He loves cotton candy and compliments, though he wouldn't admit the last one in a million years. He and Zoro have been getting along particularly well, as have Franky and Sanji, even though Sanji thinks the former is a 'shitty old pervert'.

And soon, Brook joins the group, completing it. He and Luffy get along quite well, simply because being a talking skeleton gets you in Luffy's good books immediately, and Zoro and Brook often have long discussions about which is better – kendo or fencing. The skeleton annoys Nami and Sanji, mostly due to his habit of asking to see the former's undergarments one a regular basis, but he seems like a nice guy (guy? Skeleton?) aside from that.

"Alright!" Luffy flashes a bright grin. "If we got the time right, there should be a marine patrol ship passing this island soon. If we send up a smoke signal, they'll see it and sail in this direction to try to rescue us. As soon as we're on the ship, attack. If we can beat them, then we can sail towards the fringe. By the time we get there, it should be about 1am and if we're clever, we can get over the border without getting much attention."

"You, clever? Pfft."

"Shut it, Sanji! I can be clever!"

"Yeah, and I still have two arms."

There's a moment of shocked silence, as if nobody knows what to say, before Zoro snorts and the spell breaks. Luffy bursts out laughing. Brook's distinctive laugh joins the mix, and even Nami and Franky are struggling to hold back laughter. Sanji tries to look nonchalant, but it's obvious that he's grinning, too.

"Okay, let's start this fire!"

* * *

The marines' ship falls easily. It's not that they're weak; in fact, most marines are far from it. In this area, however, the generally lower-caliber officers are far more common to find. Riots in certain areas of the south are common, and most highly skilled soldiers are either posted in those areas or at Marine HQ, base 0.

Well, it's that and the fact that the Strawhats are insanely strong.

Luffy darts through the fighters with a feral smile stretched over his face, taking down soldier after soldier as he glances around to see what all the others are doing. Nami is engaging a pink-haired marine boy Luffy vaguely recognises in a kickboxing match so vicious that he looks like he won't be able to walk for a few days after this. Even with his chest practically cut in half, Zoro is in top shape, sweeping through the crowd of marines like a bladed hurricane on legs. He leaves a trail of blood and screams in his wake and beside him, Brook has stolen one of the marine's swords and looks like he's testing it out in his grasp, even as he jabs out, quick as lightening to slash at a passing officer.

Franky is _badass_. The air is rent with gunshots as he stretches out his hands in front of him and fires, time and time again. Alongside him, Chopper has done something just as badass; Luffy had never known the little reindeer could change form. Slightly larger and more muscular before, Chopper whirls through the air, slamming his hooves into people on every side in a style that reminds Luffy somehow of Kung fu. And Sanji-"

"Hey, concentrate on the fight!" Sanji comes flying at a marine who was trying to creep up on Luffy during his distraction, swinging his knee across so it nails him hard in the face before, a split second later, stabbing downwards with his toe to hit the soldier right in the jewels. With the tricky manoeuvre, Sanji wobbles slightly on his feet but doesn't fall. Practically screaming, however, the marine does and doesn't get back up again. As Sanji shoots the teen he just saved a raised eyebrow, as if to tell him to focus more on the enemies around him, Luffy's smile grows and he feels warmth bubble in his chest.

"Okay!" With that, Luffy throws himself into the fray, knowing that no matter what happens, Sanji can fend for himself. After all, he's part of _his crew_.

Once the last of the Marines is either dead, overboard or unconscious, the ragtag group finally have time to relax. "Phew!" Luffy gives an exaggerated sigh of relief, slumping against Nami's shoulder, and she shoves him without really thinking about it off in favour of going around to make sure that all the marines are really unconscious. You can never be too careful.

All it takes is for Sanji to grimace a little before Chopper hauls him off to change his bandages, saying that 'he told him not to fight!' and shouting out his rejection of some compliment or other, despite the obvious happiness in his voice. Franky takes the wheel immediately, admiring this ship's manoeuvrability and sleek design just as he did immediately, and Zoro and Brook lean against a nearby railing to talk about something to do with the battle. Everybody, subconsciously, has slotted themselves into place through the ship.

And Luffy breaks the relative peace, of course, by leaping up onto the figurehead and pointing towards the horizon. "Franky! How fast can you get us to the fringe?"

"Oh, with a super navigator like Nami?" From across the deck, Nami waves the compliment off with a pleased blush. "Two days, if we push, what with this ship!"

"Yosh!" This time, Luffy's yell grabs the entire crew's attention. "Everyone! We're going north now, and we'll cross the fringe by night!" Anticipation begins to ring through the air like war drums, louder and louder with every passing second. Luffy's smile is infectious. "To freedom!"

"To freedom!" Zoro and Nami echo in unison, soon followed by the rest of the Strawhat Pirates. Under the midday sun, the turquoise sea bathes Luffy in a bright glow like fireflies, and they sail onwards.

* * *

"You're hopeless at this."

Luffy pouts, still flailing his arms just to stay afloat. "You're not much better," he mutters petulantly, sticking his tongue out at Zoro before losing his momentum and sinking back beneath the waves with a strangled gargle. Having to rescue his young captain for the fourth time today, Zoro sighs and dives under, body visible in the clear water as he grabs Luffy around the chest.

In order to avoid marine patrols, the crew have stopped in the shallows of a small bay for a few hours and, not for the first time, somebody is trying to teach Luffy how to swim. Not for the first time, they're failing miserably. As Luffy, Zoro, Chopper and Franky take a break from the heat of the day in the clear water, so light that sand can be seen at the ocean bed, Sanji, Nami and Brook stay on board. Sanji can't risk infection reaching his still-raw stump, Nami doesn't want to get wet today and Brook can't swim.

Breaking the surface with Luffy over his shoulder, Zoro dumps the fifteen-year old into the ocean upright. "Try not to drown again."

"Sure!" Luffy laughs, spitting out a mouthful of sea water and sand. From his place clinging onto Franky's head, Chopper giggles, tufts of fur sticking up between his antlers.

As the four in the ocean continue to goof off, Nami lies back in the crow's nest of this new ship, feeling the sun on her skin. She can hear them faintly, playing in the waves, laughing and carefree. If Nami closes her eyes, she can pretend that the last week or so hasn't happened. She's still sitting in the crow's nest of that first ship, crouching to avoid the sun, missing Vivi and scheming to discover new ways of making enough money for Kaira. It's ironic but since Nami met Zoro and the Strawhat Pirates, all her worries have thrown to the winds. They have a vibrancy about them, a warmth that wraps you up and makes you forget why you found them so irritating in the first place.

"Nami-san?" Sanji's voice calls up to the crow's nest, and Nami glances over to look down at him, blond hair bright in the tropical sun.

"Yes?"

"I made you some lemonade. I can't exactly- I mean-" He gestures helplessly to his arm.

"Oh, sorry!" Abruptly deciding that she's had enough of the sun for today, Nami climbs down the rigging at record speed and takes her lemonade, thanking Sanji with the biggest smile she can muster. When he heads back into the kitchen, however, she follows.

They sit in comfortable silence for a minute, Sanji doing a pretty impressive job of cleaning dishes in his predicament, before Nami says, "Are they always like this? Zoro and Luffy, I mean. You three act like brothers."

Sanji shrugs slightly, still not turning away from his dishes but obviously acknowledging the question. "I guess," he says eventually. "When Luffy first came to us in the navy, he was just some scared kid. We didn't know the details at the time, but he'd just been tortured and then experimented on – yeah, I know," he adds, seeing the look on Nami's face in the reflection of a pint glass. "That's the government for you. It had just been me and Zoro before. I guess neither of us really got along with Luffy even when he first joined, because he was really quiet, but I remember there was one night when there was a thunderstorm and I heard him crying." Reminiscence fills Sanji's voice. "I was about to go up to see what was wrong when I heard Zoro climbing up into his bunk. I don't know what happened but I heard them whispering, and soon Luffy stopped crying, and the next morning – just like that. He had joined our group."

Nami senses that this is probably the first time Sanji has actually talked about this, and stays quiet. Something tells her that even if he wanted to, the seventeen-year old wouldn't be able to stop talking now. "And for the next few years, they tried to train Luffy in his gift. They acted like it was this amazing development in science, you know, ' _the first rubber human!_ '. But Luffy could barely tell one end of a rifle from the other. And life there was hard but it was nothing like the outside, so I guess all of us were okay for the first few years. But we all wanted to freedom. There was this big ruckus about something or other one night a few weeks ago – something about somebody called 'Corazon', or something – and we used all the noise and panic to slip out."

Sanji's eyes snap open and he whirls around, suddenly bashful. "My apologies, Nami-swan! I-"

"Sanji, Sanji! It's okay," Nami laughs. "It was interesting to hear how you three met – it really was. And it makes a lot of sense that you've all known each other for so long. I mean, look!" She gestures out of the window, stifling a giggle, and both turn to watch in amusement as in the bay, Luffy takes a flying leap off Franky's shoulders to bellyflop in the water, showering Zoro and Chopper with seaweed and sand, and the former has to duck below the surface to rescue Luffy again. It's obvious that he doesn't really mind it at all through the fond look in his eyes.

"Yeah…" Sanji smiles, watching as the three fingers remaining on Luffy's hand curl into a head of green hair, speckled with water and sunlight. A few minutes of silence pass , and both teens watch as Franky, Chopper, Zoro and Luffy clamber back on board. Once the four are gone from the water, the afternoon sun can be seen on the surface of the ocean like a golden sheet. "I mean-"

"Oh- Oh my god!"

Sanji starts in alarm, looking across at Nami. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"I just remembered – I tied up all of those marines in the storage hold of our first boat. The explosion! They must have all died, and we didn't even- oh my god."

"Nami-san, it's-"

"Hey, Nami, Sanji!" Luffy abruptly bursts in, and Nami's face morphs from one of guilt and anguish to confusion. "Are you guys-" He seems to realise that he might have walked in on something and freezes in the doorway, still sopping wet.

"Luffy-bro?" Franky's voice rings from behind him. "Are you going in or what?"

"No we've gotta- we've gotta go." Luffy spins on his heel and covers his own eyes, marching resolutely in the other direction. All Nami and Sanji can do is stare.

"Wait, why?"

"They might be having the sex!" Luffy hisses back, eyes still covered. "They looked sad! The sex is sad, right?"

"Well, not typically…" Zoro's voice answers, amused. The bastard knows exactly how awkward he's making it. "Though I mean, I don't blame Nami for being sad if that curly-browed pissbaby is trying to work his move on her, 'specially since she's already got one girl on the go."

"Hey! Get back here, you bastard!" Sanji sprints out of the room full-pelt, a growl in his throat, and the sound of fighting, laughter, singing and Chopper's squeals can be heard echoing back up towards Nami soon enough.

Still shell-shocked, Nami lets out a hysterical little laugh.

* * *

Just as Luffy had said, they reach the fringe by night. Now, all laughter bleeds out of the situation. This is the dangerous part, the section of the operation where the group are most likely to fail. If the border guards catch them as they cross the fringe, a felony punishable by death, it's all over. Nami'll never see her girlfriend again, Luffy his brothers, Franky his home island and Sanji and Zoro their freedom. It's just after two am when they approach. All seven strawhats are exhausted after two days of sailing – but they have one more push to make.

The guard towers are arranged at intervals along the fringe, armed with cannons and rifles and soldiers armed to the teeth. If even a shadow of their ship is seen, they'll be onto them in half a second. Franky's forehead beads with sweat as he sends around hissed orders over the crash of the sea – adjust the sails, row, stop rowing, keep quiet. Nami prays for a storm not to start. One crack of thunder, one flash of lightening, and they're finished.

The whole ship seems to hold its breath as they slide between two towers, their fate left up to the tide now, nimble boat moving with the shadows. Nami squeezes her eyes shut for a minute, biting her lip hard and sure that this is the end, but by some miracle, they make it through.

Nobody dares to speak as the fringe slowly fades behind them, swallowed into the night. No celebrations break out across deck. It's hard to believe that this is even real.

And the spell breaks.

" _Freedom!"_ Luffy calls fiercely, voice echoing over the endless black waves, slinging his arms around Zoro and Sanji. Caught off-guard, maybe because of how tired they are, both echo the call, and every one of the trio is beaming. All three resonate joy, and through their eyes, Nami can see three kids for a second – young and not torn by the war, not scarred by the government, loved and free. Luffy's missing fingers, Zoro's scarred chest and Sanji's shoulder; all three scars seem as insignificant as dust, the pain of them dissolving like smoke on the wind.

"Freedom!" Now Brook and Franky have taking up the cheer, and Chopper's voice is audible above it all too, and Nami doesn't realise that she's calling it out joyfully too until she feels her voice start to grow hoarse. Lightening cracks across the sky, throwing the whole world into sharp relief as if the sea itself is bursting into flames, bold and defiantly alive.

Nami knows, in that split-second of time, that she'll never be able to leave this crew.

 _Raise a glass to freedom,  
Something they can never take away,  
No matter what they tell you  
Raise our glass to all of us,  
Tomorrow there'll be more of us  
Telling the story of tonight_

\- **Hamilton, _Raise a Glass to Freedom_**

* * *

 **Updates are gonna slow down a little from here on out, but will speed up again when summer rolls around. Sorry! Life is a bitch. They also might be hovering around 4k words each now that I have limited time, which isn't quite ideal, but oh well. I hope nobody loses interest!**

 **Also, you might have noticed my reference to usopp here…. I feel so evil**

 **Review replies!**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 20, Jun 4:**

 ** _*squints at Sanji because Sabo*  
What do you meaN OR DOES HE  
Do you even sleep Child  
Update soon~_**

 **(if you don't know the deal with sanj and sabo, id suggest re-reading chapter 3….aka the Sad Sabo Backstory one)**

 **No, I most definitely do not sleep**

 **I will update soon! You're so amazing with reviews, how could I not?**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 20, Jun 4:**

 ** _Please, please tell me the reason you feel empathy for the traitor is not because it's either Sabo or Leo against their will.  
I knew Sanji lost an arm, I'd seen the art but it was still hard to read. I love how the rest react though, of course they want him along, and he'll be kicking ass in no time I'm sure. I especially liked Zoro's casual way of showing he does care.  
Speaking of Zoro, him saving Chopper and Chopper crying while clinging to him? I think that's my favourite moment in this chapter.  
I'm sort of hoping for them heading to Kaira now and having a moment to share their stories so the whole group learns a bit more about those off-scene and since Kaira is connected to the revs maybe get the latest news too, I imagine Luffy's reaction to that would be similar to Ace's, go look for Sabo and drag the rest, or maybe they'd volunteer for a chance to meet the brothers again.  
Also how long until we learn more about Pidge and Marco's decision? Because I have a feeling it's going to be a very long time and I need to know if my birdies are okay.  
I can't wait to see what you have planned for us next, thanks for the quick updates._**

 **HI!**

 **I'm so glad you liked this chapter *tear of pride* and of course zoro cares! But is never going to admit it ever. And yes, Sanji's gonna be kicking serious ass soon.. cant say anything more because spoilers ;)**

 **Well you do know the route now, I hope you like the sound of it! As for marco and pidge…yeah, they don't turn up again until this huge big event in sabo's arc where everybody kinda gets thrown together in a clusterfuck of confusion and robin is regretting her life decisions.**

 **Again, im really glad youre loving this as much as I am! Stay tuned, thank you so much for your reviews!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 20, 21h ago:**

 ** _I'M SCREAMING YOU'RE READING CONTROL ASDFGHKL that fanfic is my baby I've been working on it for so long I'm so glad you're enjoying it! If Sanji thinks losing an arm is going to end his cooking career or his friends then he's the biggest idiot i know come on boo they love you also i love Zoro's non chalant response like yeah whatever you're staying shut up, also very glad to see everyone is alive. i really love how you injured the strawhats like they're in a brutal world, people are going to get hurt and scarred, and this is reflecting that awesomely. i wonder if Luffy is going to assume his brothers are dead once he hears about the bombings T.T i mean Zoro can tell him Ace at least lived till Loguetown but they know nothing of Sabo! keep up the good work my friend, you're writing an amazing story and playing our heartstrings like an upright base!_**

 **YES I AM READING CONTROL. And I love it oh my god T-T so many feelings**

 **I don't know what to respond to first! Thank you so much, btw, long reviews give me life. I'm glad you picked up on what I did with the strawhats' injuries – yes, this world is meant to be harsh and gritty in comparison to canon one piece, and im so glad I managed to portray that alright :D as for luffy and his bros - I don't think he'll lose hope, but Ill just have to see where he takes me. Luff is that kind of character!**

 **Thank you so much for your incredible review, Ily! You made today incredible for me.**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 20, 3h ago:**

 ** _So the Sanji drawings were for real ! I mean I feel bad for him like in this fic and in canon he has so many reasons to be depressed BUT HE LOOKS SO COOL without an arm (am I being creepy..?) *-* of all your sketches, my personal favourite was the one with Sanji tying his hair :D  
Well I hope the drawings won't all come true and Zoro won't get his face erased.  
Anyway, this chapter was incredible ! Sanji's pov was so finely done and just.. Thank you!  
Ohh Ace is gonna feel so bad, a rev bomber lost Luffy two fingers ! And Sab and Sanji are gonna feel bad for each other ! Angst is great x3  
I don't know if I'm more excited about Ace finding the photo because he would see Sabo hurt or because he would guess Lu's alive..  
Luffy making fun of Sanji this is priceless xDDD  
PLEASE DO DRAW THE STRAWHATS I BEG YOU  
I'm thinking about Scarlet being the traitos coz you know, if Rebbeca is threatened and all.. It would be pretty ironic too when Thatch told her it was creepy the sender knew Ace's room xD  
Take your time for next update if you have to work ! We're with you :D  
Take care!_**

 **Hey! Yes, I totally agree – I feel bad for him but holy hell, it's kinda cool right? And yep, that sketch is one of my faves too :D**

 **As for the zoro face erasure – I just couldn't be bothered to draw a face that day. No fucks were given tbh. And I'm so glad you liked the chapter! I loved writing sanji's pov, even when it got sad. He's one of my favourites to write, actually, aside from sabo.**

 **Not only did a rev bomber lose luffy two fingers but if you re-read the first few paragraphs of chapter 19, you'll see that it was actually ace's bomb – one he designed – that did it. Yep. You might be able to tell that I'm setting up all the angst.**

 **I'll try to draw the strawhats when I have time, promise! This weekend maybe :D as for the traitor…youre not even close. Sorry! But nobody's got it yet, so it's okay, you'll see eventually ;)**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing, hope to get another chapter out tomorrow!**


	22. 2-6 - Dead Girl Walking

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **hope you like the chapter! we're nearly half way through luffy's arc - holy shit! hopefully we can get it done by the end of the month? hopefully! well, so long as life doesn't get on top of me too much.**

 **please review and as always, please enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 22 – Dead Girl Walking**

* * *

It takes the rest of the night and all day to reach the archipelago, and when the crew finally do get to it, they're all dead on their feet. Even Luffy, boundless in his energy as he seems, is struggling to keep his eyes open and dragging his feet. The area just off the fringe is gusty and rough, one of the most dangerous areas Nami says she's ever seen, and it's a good thing none of the strawhats get seasick easily, or this would be hell for them. By the time Shanks' Archipelago comes into sight, night is close to falling. Nami feels ready to fall over, fingers going numb as she tries squint into the distance through eyes watering with the harsh, cold wind. Behind her, the sails slap and buffet, the sound of them sharp on the air.

"I think that's it!" she calls over the torrent of wind, and hears multiple sighs of relief.

"Finally," Zoro grunts back from his place in the rigging where, even with his bulk, he looks close to being blown away.

"It certainly has taken longer than expected!" says Brook from somewhere to the right, voice nearly drowned out by the tumult.

Luffy says nothing from his place on the figurehead, which he has to cling onto desperately just to stay attached to, but Nami can almost feel the excitement vibrating from him in waves. As the first of the multiple islands of the archipelago comes fully into view, Franky spins the wheel with a grin and they push forward. From above, Nami can hear Zoro roaring with laughter as Sanji's fringe blows back in the wind, revealing both of his eyebrows, one of his biggest insecurities. Soon, as it always does, a fight breaks out.

"Make sure you don't fall into the ocean!" Chopper calls, anxiously.

"YOU GODDAMN-" Sanji yells, not seeming to have heard him.

The fight lasts less than a minute before it dies out, both of its members seemingly too exhausted to keep it up for long. As the dock grows nearer, expanding out of the mist like some strange monster, a few figures become visible on the pier. Franky tenses at the wheel when he realises that most are armed. Glancing over at Nami uneasily, he asks, "Won't they think we're from the navy…?"

"Don't worry, I know them." Nami doesn't look away from the docks, trying to make out who's standing in the ocean smog. "They'll listen to me. I've been here before."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it…" Still looking uneasy, Franky goes back to focusing on pulling the ship into harbour.

As soon as they drift into the port, coming up alongside the boardwalk the figures are standing on, Nami jumps from the railing of the boat and lands in a roll, wobbling when she comes to her feet with fatigue. The person at the head of the crowd takes one threatening step forwards, scarlet newsboy cap bright even in the mist, before faltering. "Nami?"

"Koala!" Nami pulls her old friend into a hug, which is returned after a second with vigour. Soon, both girls pull away, smiling at each other. The crowd behind Koala relax, slowly starting to disperse, some smiling at Nami and calling greetings to her.

"What are you doing here?" Koala asks, straightening her gloves. "Not that I'm not pleased to see you - I am. But what brings you back here this time?" She lowers her voice. "And why on a marine ship?"

Nami exhales through her teeth, suddenly feeling exhaustion pile onto her with the weight and force of a sledgehammer. "It's a long, insane story, and I'd love to walk you through it but-" She stifles a yawn, hand over her mouth. "We've been travelling for days, and I think me and the others need to sleep for about a week. Or a year."

As if on cue, Luffy, Zoro and Brook scale the side of the now docked ship and hit the boardwalk a few feet away. Upon seeing Koala, Luffy grins, Brook reaches forward to shake her hand with his bony fingers and Zoro says, "This Vivi?"

"I'm Koala," the young girl says, taking Brooks hand with a smile despite looking uneasy at his… Well, everything. She nods to Luffy and Zoro, auburn hair as sleek and short as it always is, before turning back to Nami. "You can all stay with me for a while if you need rest, as long as there aren't too many of you."

"Is seven too much?"

"I think we can pull that off," replies Koala, eyes widening as she takes in Franky, Chopper and Sanji. A skeleton was one thing – a cyborg, an amputee and a reindeer are another. "Then again, I think the big guy-" -she gestures to Franky- "-Might have to take the couch."

Laughing, Nami links arms with her friend and lets herself be lead into the familiar town. She's been here a few times, mostly just to stay for a few days here and there, and she and Koala are firm friends. The boys trail behind, sodden with sea spray, and Luffy darts this way and that with renewed vigour as he tries to get a good look at the town. Soon he gives up, whining about how hungry he is and trailing along beside Brook with his head down. Nami struggles to hold back a laugh as she glances back at them other six pirates, all looking forlorn and soaked to the skin.

When they finally reach Koala's house, a small place on the edge of town, Nami feels like her legs could give out underneath her. Taking a towel from Koala with a mumbled 'thank you', she dries herself off with clumsy hands and towels her damp hair. Though Koala is still a little smaller than her, they are of similar sizes, so she offers Nami a pair of loose pants and a shirt to change into. Clothed, dry and struggling to keep her eyes open, the orange-haired teen lets herself be ushered into a bed – where, she doesn't pay much attention to – and is asleep before her head hits the pillow.

* * *

Zoro wakes up first, clinging onto the folded corner of a dream he can barely recall as his eyes slowly open onto a dimly-lit room. There's something soft beneath him, and something warm on top of him, and something hard sticking into his ribs. If it weren't for the latter issue, he would be content to lie here for hours more, but as the warm thing on top of him shifts, the hard thing digs deeper into his ribs and he grunts, eyes widening with pain.

The swordsman is lying on his side on a couch, looking up into Luffy's sleeping face as the kid drools on his shoulder. The room around him is mostly dark, though Zoro can make out the lightening of the sky through a wide window across from him. Shoving Luffy off and dislodging Chopper in the process, he sits up and glances around. He can make out Franky leaning against the other couch in the room, which Brook is lying on, and when Zoro stands he nearly trips over Sanji, who is passed out on a blow-up mattress on the floor. Nami is nowhere to be seen.

The last few days are a fatigue-blurred mess in his mind. Crossing the fringe – ' _Freedom! To freedom!'_ – is the only real clear memory he has. After that, everything is a rain-washed mishmash of fleeting moments. Zoro can feel the chill under his skin, as if he's only just gotten out of the cold. Stumbling to his feet, he stretches and pads out of the room, after making sure that his swords are safe beneath Luffy and Chopper. His white shirt feels far too thin in the frigidity of the house, whoever's house it is, and the sound of the wind battering the walls is loud and constant.

Making his way out of the room, Zoro closes the door quietly behind him and glances down the corridor, towards a room from which the dim light of a candle floods. Cautiously, he creeps up the hall, cringing whenever the wooden floorboards creak. Entering, every nerve on high alert, he's met with the sight of an auburn-haired girl sitting at a table in the middle of a kitchen, peering blearily down at a file in front of her. When she hears Zoro enter she looks up, surprised, and practically slams the file shut.

"I didn't expect you to be awake so soon," she says, offering him a smile. A vague memory comes to Zoro of last night. This must be Koala.

"Koala, right?" Stepping forward, he takes a seat opposite her. She doesn't reopen the file, discreetly pushing it to the side instead. After a second, Koala stands and heads over to the hob, filling a kettle to the brim with water. As the sky lightens outside, she makes a brew for each of them, and she and Zoro exchange casual conversation.

But, of course, the question Zoro had been expecting soon comes. "I don't mean to pry," she says, despite the fact that she obviously does. "But who are you all? We haven't seen Nami in months, and one day she just turns up with a stolen marine ship, a skeleton, some kind of robot- I don't even know the kind of people you have with you. I'm guessing you recently crossed the southern fringe?"

"Yeah," Zoro assents. "Me and two of the other guys are escaped soldiers, and the three others are muts. Nami just got dragged into it all. Her interests align with ours, so she's agreed to sail with us for now, at least."

"'Interests'?"

"Has Nami ever told you about the boy who saved her from Loguetown, and the two kids who left with her?" Koala nods, curious. "Well, the brother of that boy is one of us. And I'm one of the two kids who was rescued with her."

Blinking, Koala stares for a good few seconds.

"Yeah, I know," Zoro tells her grimly.

* * *

The group only stay with Koala at the archipelago for a few days – just long enough to buy a boat. Koala lends them the money for it. Luffy can tell that she's poor; she looks at the money longingly even after she's handed it to Nami, as if she's tempted to snatch it back off her. However, she doesn't, and smiles when she sees the boat they've chosen.

It's a simple caravel, with the head of a ram and a sleek, rounded design. Luffy and Chopper spend ten minutes running through it once it's been purchased, chasing each other through the rooms, giving awed exclamations every time they find something new. Zoro makes himself at home at the foot of the mast, almost immediately plopping down against it to take a nap, and Franky and Brook seem just as awed as everybody else, exploring to their heart's content. Nami immediately claims one room as her navigation room – the captain's quarters, since Luffy says he's not going to use them – and Sanji finds himself getting used to the layout of the kitchen already, becoming accustomed to the place where he swears he's going to teach himself how to cook again.

The only thing that brings down the happiness of the day slightly is the revelation that Shanks isn't anywhere near his territory. The last place he was seen was someplace in the east, apparently trying to take down one of Blackbeard's subordinates. Though Luffy looks let-down by this, he soon gets over it, claiming that he'll see Shanks soon anyway, and there's no reason to panic. For a guy who could lose his father in a fight against a dangerous criminal, he doesn't seem particularly bothered by Shanks' predicament.

"He's strong!" Luffy tells Nami, when she asks whether he's worried. "Shanks is _really_ powerful!"

"I'll take your word for it," she replies, moving in to hug Koala one last time. "Take care of yourself, okay? I'll always be there if you need me, and so will Kaira – you know Vivi and the others love you."

"Us, too!" Luffy calls, echoed by Chopper and Franky.

Koala shoots them a grin. "I'll be fine, but thanks." She turns her attention back to Nami, and lowers her voice. "My offer from last time still leader needs people like you."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Nami parries, with the air of somebody used to being asked this over and over. "Maybe someday. But I can't become some rebel spy when I have Vivi and Kaira to protect."

"And yet, you're travelling with a group who call themselves pirates…" Seeing Nami's exasperated look, Koala puts her hands in front of her in a sign of surrender. "Hey, I'm not saying you're wrong! But, if you really want to keep Vivi safe, I'd suggest staying far, far away from Luffy."

"Wait, what?" Nami's voice rises. "What do you know about Luffy? What are you talking about?"

Leaning in as if to hug her again, Koala surreptitiously presses a tiny slip of paper into Nami's slack hand, curling her fingers around it. "Nothing I can share here," she breathes in Nami's ear, hot breath tickling her cheek, before leaning back and giving her friend a small push towards her waiting crew. "I'll see you again soon, Nami!" Koala calls loudly, and when Nami turns to face her, she gives a tiny wink.

"What was all that about, Nami-sis?" Franky asks as she approaches them, shooting Koala a suspicious look from his place at the wheel, ready to cast off.

"Nothing," murmurs Nami, caught up in her own thoughts. The paper feels hot against her palm. The glint in Koala's eye - dangerous and knowing, as if she knows everything Nami has yet to understand - flashes through her head. "I'm going to go unpack in the girls' room."

On her own in her own room, sitting on the bed, Nami finally uncurls the note from her hand. The writing is slightly smudged, pencil lines ashy and blurred on the page, but the words are perfectly clear.

 _Void century.  
You know where to find us.  
#49_

* * *

The eastern area holds such an air of tangible defeat, of death and disease, that it sends a chill up Sanji's spine. He's never been to the east. You would think it's always been this way, always been this disconcerting and cold, if not for how uncomfortable Zoro, Nami and Luffy look. This place isn't the homeland they used to know.

The shells of islands, foreign bodies looming out of the smoke, pass slowly, eerily still. The only things left of entire cities, whole landmasses, are hollow, black hunks of earth. The sea doesn't smell of smoke, but of acid. The white paint running in strips along the outsides of Merry is starting to peel after only a few hours of being here. It's like entering a whole different dimension, coming here – abrupt, sensory, all-encompassing with its pressing, forceful silence. The waves are completely black, tipped with greyish foam, and hiss as Merry 2.0 slices through them. They move painfully slowly though day and night. There seems to be little to no wind here, and everything is so still and quiet that it's hard not to scream just to make sure that sound still exists.

The silence doesn't last long, however. As the Strawhat Pirates penetrate deeper into the east, the screams start.

Nobody can tell where they're coming from. They echo across the water like the sound of screeching metal on metal, so loud they sound only an inch out of reach, just beyond the curtain of ash and smoke. They reverberate through the silent, vast waters, raw and terrible in the pure pain that emanates from them. Every time one sounds, with no warning, Luffy flinches and his shoulders tense. Zoro frowns. Sanji bows his head. Brook turns away, tries to play his violin to drown out the sound, but doesn't succeed; it feels like that horrible noise, growing more familiar with each passing day, can drown out anything. Hearing these screams feels like bearing witness to the funeral of somebody you don't know, or watching the death of somebody you vaguely recognise without being able to do anything to help.

Something strange happens a few days into the voyage – Luffy calls it a signal from an ally across the water, while Nami calls it strange and Chopper calls it weird. In the darkness of night, on one night when the screams are so loud and so frequent that nobody can sleep, the band of renegades are camping out on deck in the relative darkness when something bright, flaming and sea blue shoots overhead at the speed of lightning, piercing through the clouds like a bullet. Wings spread out at either side of its lithe body, the firebird screeches into the night, drowning out the screams for a moment before it's gone, just a displacement in the clouds and an imprint of Luffy's irises left as evidence that if was ever there.

After that, though nobody can explain why, all seven strawhats sleep well.

Days slip by silently in a haze of grey. It's hard not to feel like you're going insane in a place like this so together, the pirates get into a habit of playing cards – wherever, whenever, whatever game. None of the details matter. Sometimes it's crazy eights in the galley, crowded around the table, the faces of their cards it by a guttering candle. Other times it's catch the bitch out on deck, substituting 'bitch' for 'banana' in order to spare Chopper's 'young, impressionable ears' – and then having to explain to him what a banana is. Sometimes it's even marketplace on the floor of the boys' room, doors shut against the chill outside.

Chopper always sits on Zoro's head while they play, and occasionally hops over to Nami's lap to look at her cards, before switching to Luffy's. Those three are the most common winners – Zoro through experience, Nami through pure cunning, and Luffy through sheer luck. Sanji is a strong contester, though, even if he does find it a struggle to manage his cards with one hand. Sometimes it still feels like the arm is still there – the blond wakes up flexing imaginary fingers, bending over to pick things up only to find that he doesn't have that spare hand. Chopper tells him that this is a mental illusion called a 'ghost limb', and while it might be common, Sanji doesn't like it very much. He's meant to be getting over the loss, not dreaming up a whole new arm in his mind.

It's so hard to sleep through the screams, in fact, that it's near impossible to encounter a night when at least three of the strawhats aren't awake. Sanji enjoys chatting with Chopper, getting to know the kid, learning that he would only be thirteen if he was still human. It's nice to talk to Brook, even if the old pervert can be annoying, and sometimes he plays violin to try to distract from the noise across the water. Sometimes, just sometimes, it works. Franky is interesting to talk to too, and Nami goes without saying. Hell – it's even nice to talk to Luffy and Zoro every now and again.

Even though there have been no thunderstorms since they arrived in the east, Sanji still sometimes wakes up to the same scene he did all those years ago; only this time, he has to silently urge one of the others to go back to sleep and not pay it any mind. It's evident that even though Luffy is warm and affectionate towards the entire crew, physical and very tactile in his pure love for the people surrounding him, the bond he has with the swordsman has stuck. It might even stick forever. Sanji is completely used to it by now.

So yes, the east is a hellhole wrapped inside a bigger goddamn hellhole. The screams and bombed-out islands, paired with the smell of smoke constantly on the air and the softly hissing, acidic ocean, are enough to make the whole experience of crossing this ocean one that Sanji doubts he'll ever forget. But small things – the card games, the little talks, the firebird – are enough to make it all bearable enough. The cold makes Sanji's stump ache and throb, a constant reminder of what he's lost, but Franky promises regularly that when they get to his workshop in Water 7, he'll rebuild Sanji's arm better and stronger than before.

Life isn't exactly good. It's far from it. But Sanji's life is dashed with just enough insanity to make it enjoyable.

This insanity peaks during their third week in the east. Nami looks drawn and tired. Franky, Brook, Zoro and Chopper are twitchy, irritable and nervous in their own ways, each affected by the heaviness of the air and the atmosphere in their own way. Luffy stares at every passing island with a glint in his eyes that makes one thing obvious – he thinks, without saying it out loud, that each may be Edgetown. Sanji finds his mind often drawn to Sabo when he looks at Luffy, sometimes. They have the same skin tone, same nose, same eye-shape. His mind is firmly set on Sabo at the very moment, in fact, that it happens.

"Holy shit!"

Sanji whirls around at Zoro's yell, eyes widening. Out of the mist like some gargantuan ghost has risen a ship, slicing through the water to come up right beside Merry. The ship towers over her, and its dragon figurehead is startlingly red in the colourless void. High above, a black flag is raised half-mast, fluttering in the week breeze. As he looks up at the ship, Zoro feels a chill seep through him. Luffy and Nami are below deck. Somebody needs to get them, and fast. This could end bloody.

Then, _he_ hits comes into view. The man jumps down to Merry's deck, hitting it as lightly as a cat. There's a sword tethered to his side. He has dark red hair, framing sharp eyes and a face adorned with three identical scars along one side. There are sandals on his feet, and despite the fact that he hasn't even unsheathed his weapon, the man exudes such intense power that Chopper presses closer to Sanji's leg, quivering slightly. He looks between each member with a concentrated gaze, intense in his observation of them all. When he meets Sanji's eyes, gaze flitting down to take in his amputated arm, Sanji feels like somebody is looking right into his soul.

"I see you're flying a black flag." His voice is filled with steel, hard but not necessarily cold. "Pirates?"

"Yes," Zoro replies, stepping forwards with his chin up. He meets that concentrated gaze with his own iron stare, barely blinking.

The man stares into Zoro's eyes for a long moment before, surprisingly, he chuckles. Soon, his chuckles give way to full-throttle laughter. Every eye on deck is glued to this strange man as he laughs and laughs, as if somebody has told him the funniest joke he's ever heard. Sanji finds himself wondering if the man is slightly mad.

"Sorry, sorry." Wiping an imaginary tear of mirth from his eye, the stranger stretches his arms and lets a grin so familiar cover his face that Sanji starts, staring at him hard. "I just don't get why you're all so scared. I'm not going to kill some random kids, least of all if they're _pirates_."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zoro, apparently, still doesn't buy it.

"It's not 'supposed to mean' anything! I just-"

The man freezes half way into his sentence, eyes widening. From somewhere in the distance, somebody screeches with pain. It's as if he can't make the words come out. His face dissolves into blank shock, staring past Zoro uncomprehendingly.

"Oh my go-"

A sharp inhale sounds from the doorway to the boys' cabin. Sanji turns almost in slow motion, taking in the shock echoed on Luffy's face, the joy in his face, the ecstatic gleam in his eye. The fifteen-year old reaches out with one hand almost without realising he's doing it, scar tissue gleaming in the place where his fingers are meant to be.

A single, shivering second of silence grinds past, before Luffy sprints forwards.

"Dad!"

* * *

 **OMAKE:**

"Wow…" Koala murmurs. "It's such a coincidence that all of you were thrown together like this. It's almost like fate is dealing you a few of the strangest cards, huh?" She laughs.

"Yeah," Zoro agrees, chuckling. "That, or the author wanted to find a way to create parallels between a multitude of canonical circumstances and the ones happening here, and wanted to create a way of tying together dozens of seemingly uncorrelated characters by giving them all a bonding tie to one of the three main characters."

Laughing, Koala takes a sip of her tea. "Yeah, that much makes sense, too."

* * *

 **I hope you liked it! Sorry it might be slipping when it comes to length. I'm trying to keep up my chapter-per-day streak, I just hope you guys like what I'm releasing!**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 21, 23h ago:**

 ** _Oh yeah, the backstory oops XD  
I really want ASL to meet each other again bUT I KNOW THAT WILL BE A WHILE HNNNNNN  
You really need sleep then, child. It's not healthy to stay awake so late  
Update soon~_**

 **Hey!**

 **Asl reunion…I can't say much but it's not exactly going to be under the best circumstances. But it will happen! I promise. And as for sleeping – I can sleep when I'm dead**

 **I'll try to update soon, thank you so much for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 21, 15h ago:**

 ** _Sabo's arc? I guess I'll have to wait since everyone together sounds intriguing and amazing.  
I love the route, hopefully Luffy meets Shanks again. I wonder if Water 7 will have CP9 and Robin? How did Usopp escape from Syrup's bombing?  
Poor Ace when learns his bomb lost Luffy 3 fingers he's going to feel so guilty. Every mention of him or Sabo makes me so happy, I love how everybody knows them.  
I loved Nami's thought when she looks at the trio after crossing the fringe, and of course she won't be able to leave them.  
Take as much time updating as you need, while it's great to have updates your well-being comes first._**

 **'hopefully luffy meets shanks again' mate…**

 **As for usopp – he turns up soon! Just have patience, my friend! And yes, poor ace… I feel so bad for the kid. And of course everybody knows them! Refer to the omake :P**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing. Honestly, keeping this going helps my wellbeing. Reviews are incredible. It's nice to have something to devote myself to. I'll try to update soon, thanks so much for reviewing!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1** , Chapter 21, 13h ago:

 ** _not sure if anyone has mentioned it to you yet (or if you already know) but that end quote is actually from Hamilton! its from the Story of Tonight which takes place immediately after My Shot which is like all the revolutionary boys meeting for the first time and declaring their goals, so very fitting for this piece of the story! I'm glad things are looking up for them, although I actually missed the Usopp reference, but i cant wait for his inclusion! he's my bby :3 also can't wait for Robin to come back cuz then we'll have all our strawhats together! also that Shanks Luffy reunion is gonna be AMAZING i cannot wait! keep up the good work my friend, and take your time! dont stress yourself too much cuz believe me i get what you mean by real life being a bitch (why cant we live in a paradise where we don't have to do anything but watch, read, and write?)_**

 **I didn't know it was! I'll change that now :) and im glad it's fitting! And im glad you're looking forward to usopp – I cant wait to add him. the absolute dORk.**

 **Robin will turn up soon too! And once all strawhats are there, yes, they're going to create the kind of shit the world had never seen!**

 **I'll keep updating as much as I can, thank you so so much for your reviews ily! Honestly reviews keep me going. And that really does sound like paradise, huh?**


	23. 2-7 - Magic Number

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **I am so, so sorry I broke my one-a-day streak. I'm busy as hell right now. But I promise I should be able to pile on the chapters this weekend in order to keep you guys posted on it all! My goal is to reach chapter 30 – the end of Luffy's arc – by the end of the month. It shouldn't be too much of a struggle, but you never know.**

 **Anyway! Enough of my babbling. Enjoy the chapter! I'd also be fascinated to hear what you guys think of '49', cause nobody's guessed right so far as to what it means. Any ideas? *distant dun dun dun sound***

* * *

 **Chapter 23 – Magic Number**

* * *

It happens too quickly for Sanji to process – one minute the strange man and Luffy are staring at each other, drinking each other in, seemingly unable to process just what they're seeing. Then, Luffy launches himself forward and they're hugging, spinning with the impact with which Luffy hits, nearly colliding with the railing in a whirlwind of shouts and, in Luffy's case, incredulous laughter. Sanji and Franky exchange looks when they see that the man is hugging back with vigour, tufts of dark hair sticking up over Luffy's shoulder.

Nami bursts onto the deck a second later, hair flying, and freezes the second she sees Luffy, locked in an embrace with this strange man. Sanji's watches her face change multiple times – confusion, comprehension, shock, understanding – before, strangely, she gives a small smile. Moving over to Zoro and Sanji, she grabs each of their arms.

"I think we should give them a minute," Nami whispers.

"Why? Who is that?" asks Sanji, but before Nami can answer him, Zoro does.

"That's Shanks, isn't it?" he asks Nami, eyes darting between her face and the scene across the deck. The man and Luffy still haven't let go of each other. Shanks' shoulders are shaking.

"Yes," the thief replies. "We'll have time to talk to him later. But for now, I think they need a minute."

Franky, Brook and Chopper are already heading inside, though Chopper looks like he would prefer to stay, shooting Zoro an apprehensive look over his shoulder. Reluctantly, Sanji and Zoro let themselves be lead towards the galley. Zoro is the last to leave the deck, looking Shanks and Luffy up and down one last time before closing the door behind him.

It takes a long time, longer than either of them care to count, for Shanks and Luffy to separate. The former swipes away tears as he pulls away, three scars across his face stretching as he smiles a bright, broad smile. The latter lets his own tears glint in his eyes, unshed, staring up at his father with such raw compassion and disbelief that it's overwhelming.

"I thought you were dead-" Shanks' voice cracks. He's acting nothing like the strong fighter Luffy depicts him to be, but neither he nor the teenager care. "God, _Luffy,_ Ace thinks you're dead! What happened to you?"

Luffy blinks, before the tears brimming in his eyes spill over onto his cheeks and he steps back into Shanks' arms. "It's a really long story," he sniffs into Shanks' shoulder.

Hit with a wave of déjà vu, Shanks ruffles Luffy's hair with one hand, using the other to wrap around his skinny shoulders. "All my sons are idiots," he mutters, feeling like a ten-tonne weight has dropped off his shoulders.

"Cap'n?" a voice calls from above in the larger boat, effectively breaking the moment. "Any problems?"

"Is this little moron considered a problem?" Shanks replies with a grin in his voice, still hugging Luffy to him. Somebody lands silently beside them on feet as stealthy as those of a panther, and when Luffy looks up, he can make out the face of Benn Beckman through his tears. The shock on the man's face slides after a few seconds, giving way to relaxed, teasing expression.

"Don't know, captain. It seems like you're finding each of the three brothers in the weirdest of places."

"Next thing you know, we'll find Sabo lost out on Stormy Down," replies Shanks jokingly. Luffy laughs but doesn't pull away. He doesn't feel quite ready to let this go yet.

One by one, the Redhaired Pirates jump down from their ship, each greeting Luffy with varying levels of surprise and affection. Luffy beams at each of them, bright as the sun, and has his hair ruffled, back slapped and shoulder cuffed over and over by multiple different pirates. Soon the strawhats join them, cautious at first with this crew of strangers suddenly boarding their ship.

"Hey, Nami!" Shanks calls, as Luffy finally releases him to go tackle Yasopp. "It's been a while!"

"It has," she agrees with a smile. "I see you and Luffy reunited."

"Yep. And he still has about a hundred things to tell me, too." Shanks looks at the crew with new eyes, this time not analysing but curious. "I'm guessing it really is a long story, huh?"

"You have no idea," multiple voices reply in unison.

Shanks and Luffy are completely inseparable. Zoro, having never known his father, watches their interactions with mild interest, trying to pick up on the smallest of things – and there are plenty of them to pick up on. Luffy is as free and warm in his love as he always has been when it comes to Shanks, playful and cheeky one minute and clingy the next. Sometimes, Zoro notices Shanks' eyes following his son, and sometimes they grow wet. Those two have some painful history, but nobody pries.

The darkness and cold of this place are pushed back even further as the day wears on by Shanks' crew and the cheerfulness they all exhibit. They're nothing if not completely blunt – and honestly, it's pretty refreshing. Zoro and Brook end up holding back laugher as Sanji is crowded by pirates, all wondering how he lost his arm, multiple commenting on how badass the amputation looks. One even comments, jokingly, that a robotic arm would look cool – and this is the point at which Franky joins the conversation, and Zoro and Brook lose the downhill battle of holding in their laughter. Zoro's never seen Sanji look so uncomfortable in his life.

But, of course, the day wears on and wears through. Their ships can't stay mobile for long. Zoro lends half an ear as Shanks tells Luffy that his brother, Ace, is a commander in the revolutionary army, and that Sabo is alive too. The fifteen-year old breathes a huge sigh of relief at this, though it's pretty obvious that he wasn't very worried to begin with. From Zoro's side, Sanji also looks relived. All Zoro can think is that, judging by what he remembers of Ace, being a revolutionary fits him.

When the time to separate comes, however, Luffy obviously isn't too happy about it.

"The least you can do is stay a few days! I haven't seen you in years, you thought I was _dead_!" Luffy's face crumples. " _Da_ ad!"

Shanks winces – Luffy's pulling the 'dad' card, which he doesn't do often – but stays firm. "This isn't the last time we're going to see each other, Luffy. I'll make sure of it. But we both have things to do; you need to find Ace, and reunite with Sabo, and take your crew on this big adventure. I need to carry on fighting Blackbeard."

"For a pirate, you sure act a lot like a revolutionary!" Luffy shoots back. "All this stuff about 'responsibility' and 'tactics' and all that – it just sounds like you're preparing to go into politics, not live freely!"

Shanks groans. "Luffy, I am living freely!"

"Well, you don't act much like it." Pouting, Luffy turns away, though it's obvious that he isn't overly upset.

"Luffy…" Sighing, Shanks steps forward and lifts Luffy's head up to meet his eyes, holding him lightly by the chin. The kid stares into his eyes for a second, defiant, before deflating with resigned defeat. "We will meet again. And I'll always be here when you need me – all of us will. The second we hear that something's wrong, the second I catch wind of you being hurt, we'll be there."

Luffy flinches hard at the word 'hurt', looking down at the floor. "I remember what it was like," he says after a second, quietly. "When they thought I had a gift. I kept wishing and wishing for you to come, and- and-" Sniffing hard, Luffy reaches up to wipe his eyes. "Shanks, don't die! _Please_ don't die!"

The older pirate opens his mouth and then closes it again, trying to come up with something to say. After a minute's silence, he reaches across to wipe a tear on his son's cheek, a profound sorrow on his face. "I won't die, Luffy. I promise."

* * *

In the days following Shanks' departure, Luffy drifts through the halls of the ship with a face so morose, you would swear somebody had just died. The phase of intense mournfulness doesn't last long but while it does, all of the other six strawhats try to cheer him up – 'try' being the key word. He just seems to find the whole situation unfair. Luffy isn't the type to expect much from the world; he's spent his life expecting the _least_ from the world, and getting that much too. But even the rest of the crew have to admit that yes, the situation is quite unfair. Luffy hadn't seen his father for years, since he was just a kid, and when they did reunite it was only for a few days.

Still, Luffy pulls through as he always does. They're apparently passing an island where one of Blackbeard's main commanders is based (Shanks has been circling her for a while), and even though a fight sounds like just what they all need, the pace has been picked up since Shanks' visit. Luffy is desperate to see his brothers again – Zoro and Nami can't wait to meet Ace, and Sanji yearns to reunite with Sabo. Chopper and Brook are content to follow the others through hell and high water, so long as they're free. Franky is eager to reach his hometown.

And eventually, though it takes a while, the smile returns to Luffy's face. Life is still hard. The east is still feral, raw and cold and something that strips you down to the bare bones of human emotion, but it's still bearable too, and that much is enough for the strawhats. As they pass the island, move forward and stop for nothing more, the crew of misfits carry on their little traditions. Sanji is a little more liberal with his use of their food supplies every few days, creating what feels like a feast worthy of kings for the whole crew. They all continue to play cards, censoring their cussing with Chopper around. Some nights, Luffy waits up all night, looking up towards the heavens for any sign of the blue firebird again.

Life goes on.

And eventually, after what feels like centuries, the smog of the east starts to fade. One day, the group spend breakfast cheering, because now they can see past the outside of the boat without smoke obscuring their vision. The day after, Zoro comments on how the intervals between screams are growing, and they sound like they're getting quieter. A few days later, Nami's face splits with glee as she realises that her freckles are re-emerging. The sun is growing clearer through the claustrophobic cloud cover of the eastern area, thick mist generated by bomb after bomb after toxic bomb.

Days become lighter. Every day, Luffy and Zoro's tanned eastern skin seems to gain more colour and vibrancy, and on the first day when the sun shines fully on the deck of Merry Go, all faces seem to lighten. With every passing hour, under every starry night with a view onto the finally unobstructed sky, Luffy can feel himself lightening. The sound of Brook's violin fills the air every day, and nobody seems to notice that the screams are fading until they've stopped completely. Every passing minute seems to bring a more intense brightness, and Sanji catches Nami smiling one day as she notices a sprout of green growing between the boards of the deck.

Before the crew know it, the cold, harsh, unforgiving world that took so long to pass through is behind them. Luffy spends a day celebrating, because they've been travelling together a whole two months now. _Two months_. It doesn't feel like that long since Sanji lost his arm, since that explosion. It doesn't feel like more than a month since they crossed the fringe.

It's one particularly sunny day, out on the blue, blue sea, when Nami finally approaches Brook about something that's been bothering her for weeks now. He's just finished a particularly lively tune among scatters applause, most from Luffy and Chopper, and is just packing away his violin when Nami asks for a word.

"Of course!" the old skeleton replies immediately. Once they're in the galley, accompanied by the methodical sound of Sanji cooking lunch from the next room, Brook folds his hands in his lap. "What did you want to talk about, Nami-san?"

"I was wondering…" Nami swallows, wondering how to phrase it. "Brook, you're a skeleton. None of us know how long the government had hold of you, but I guess it was a long time. Before you were a skeleton… Did you ever hear of anything called the Void Century?"

Humming contemplatively, Brook taps his finger against his knee with a click of bone on bone. "I've heard the term, but I can't put much meaning to it. Why?"

Nami shrugs, trying to play it off as nothing. "It's just a term I heard about a while ago." An idea strikes her. "Brook… Do you know anything special about the number 49?"

Brook freezes in his seat.

Nami tries to search his skeletal face for emotion, brow furrowing. His eyes are deep and dark and blank, void of emotion, hard to draw any signs of shock or horror from. "…Brook?"

Seeming to shake himself, Brook folds and unfolds his hands nervously. From the kitchen, the sound of clinking cutlery seems to reverberate around the room at twice its volume. "Sorry, Nami-san," Brook says quietly. "That number… Brings back quite a few memories for me."

"What do you mean?" Nami asks, curious despite herself, as she leans forward in her seat. She can almost feel Koala's note throbbing with heat in her pocket.

"It's been a long time since I heard that number with much meaning tied to it, and-" Jumping, the older strawhat suddenly seems to snap out of his trance. "Where did you hear that number?"

"I just- I-" Nami stutters, flustered. "I just heard it from a friend. That's all. Brook, it's nothing to worry about."

Brook continues to stare at Nami, though she can sense that he isn't looking at her so much as his mind is whirling with too much to process. She stands. He probably needs time to himself, if the number 49 really does hold so much meaning for him.

However, before Nami can back out of the room, Brook speaks up from behind her. "Nami-san… Please, for all of our sakes, be cautious when dealing with the letter 49. Especially when it comes to Luffy-san."

Unable to think of anything to say, head spinning with information, Nami nods mutely from the doorway. "Thank you, Brook," she says eventually.

Once the door has closed behind the thief, leaving Brook alone, he finds himself staring at nothing for an indefinite amount of time. Memories flick through his brain rapidly, each passing too fast to truly process. He always knew it would never truly be the end of that legacy. Not really.

"After all, you did call us the _Strawhat_ Pirates, Luffy," the skeleton says to the empty room, suddenly feeling far older than his immense age.

* * *

As Kaira approaches, a speck of green on the wide horizon, Nami whoops and beams at the nearest person, who happens to be Sanji. At the blinding smile, the other teen looks like he's just been slapped, but smiles dopily all the same, seeming to be a little stupefied by the gesture.

"Look! Home!" Nami leans against the railing, even though she's too far away to be heard, and yells out greetings to a faraway town. Seemingly drawn in by her joy like a moth to the flame, Luffy joins the yelling from the figurehead, shouting and waving his arms above his head like a maniac. Merry slices through the water like a knife through butter, the peeling and scratched paint running along her sides dipping through the blue waves, and the air is crisp and warm. For a northern summer morning, it isn't overly warm – in fact, it's just the perfect temperature.

As soon as Merry reaches the shore, the Strawhat Pirates pile off and Nami takes off into the town immediately, without care for where the others go. It's early morning. The town is waking, still sleepy but rousing with the dawn. Without prompting, Luffy takes off up the road towards the centre of town with Chopper on his heels, laughing, kicking up dust in spirals around him. His sandals slap on the ground as he runs, a hurricane of energy. The other strawhats follow, looking around the town appreciatively. They are pinned with a few strange looks, curious as to who these unusual strangers are, but nobody looks particularly threatening.

That is, until Zoro, Sanji, Chopper and Brook round a corner and come face to face with the sight of Luffy being held up by the scruff of his neck by an angry-looking man. Zoro and Sanji dart forward immediately, alarmed, but are caught off guard by the grin on Luffy's face as he looks up at the man.

"Sorry, cousin! I didn't mean to knock over your cart!" Luffy says completely sincerely. His legs, up to the knee, are coated in what looks like the crushed remains of a few dozen tomatoes. Beside him is an overturned vegetable cart, spilling fruit and crops onto the floor like the brightly coloured contents of a piñata.

"Yeah, lad, sure you didn't." The man looks unimpressed. "Lucky for you it isn't my cart – I'm a bartender, not a farmer – but be more careful!"

Dropped unceremoniously on the floor, Luffy laughs and says, "Okay! Sorry!"

"Mr Blackburn?" an amused voice calls from a few feet away, and the strawhats turn in unison to see a girl with vibrant blue hair and a sunhat, standing in the doorway of one of the small houses lining the street. She's wearing a bright smile, slightly worn-looking clothes and one very familiar golden earing in her left ear.

Zoro steps forward. "Are you-"

"Vivi!"

The blue-haired girl, 'Vivi', looks around for the source of the voice, eyes alight with hope. She steps down from her doorstep and a bare second later, Nami skids to a stop in front of her, hair flying.

The two girls stare at each other for a second, neither seeming to be able to believe what they're seeing, before Vivi steps forward and Nami closes the gap. Wrapping her arms around her girlfriend tightly, Nami threads her fingers through blue hair and holds Vivi for a long moment, before pulling away, incredulous, saying, "Oh my god, Vivi!"

"Nami! You were meant to be back weeks ago, are you okay?!" Sun hat knocked askew, Vivi pulls the other girl into another secure embrace, unwilling to let her go after weeks of worry. Her eyes open to scan the strawhats over Nami's shoulder and when she pulls away, Vivi asks, "Who're they?"

"Ooh, can I say it this time?!" Luffy asks excitedly, darting forwards.

Confused, Nami nods, and Luffy slicks his hair back with his hands into what he obviously assumes to be the height of coolness. Crossing his arms like some bizarre, small rubber mafia leader, the fifteen-year old says, "It's a long story."

Helpless to the utter craziness of it all, Nami and Vivi glance at each other and burst out laughing.

* * *

Kaira is… Nice.

Zoro doesn't use the word in the most favourable of ways. 'Nice' means you won't be stabbed to death in your sleep, but your boredom makes up for that much good fortune. 'Nice' means a place so hopelessly uneventful that you can't even find a good fight. The people act like something out of a children's story – they're humble farmers, a community bound by the word 'community' itself, a group of people trying to ignore the storm just off their shores in favour of becoming wrapped up in the menial drone of everyday.

Of course, Vivi tells them that it hasn't always been this way. Kaira used to be poor, ruled by a vicious leader who cared more for his bank notes than his land. A few years ago, there was some kind of uprising – details of it are hard to access around here – and they took him down. That, at least, helps Zoro to scrape up a little respect for them.

But at the end of the day, this is a farming village. Where Nami finds all her affection for it, Zoro doesn't know. Sure, she has Vivi, but that seems like all that holds her here. If it wasn't for her sense of responsibility towards Kaira, Nami would have mapped out half the world by now – Zoro's sure of it. Then again - it's not like anything he says could make her leave this place behind. It's obvious by the look in her eyes that Nami loves this _nice_ little town more than she can say, and Vivi just as much.

Vivi is _nice_ , just as much as her hometown, but she has a flare that obviously catches Luffy's eye. Head crowned by an ocean of blue hair, competent in fighting and one of the most diplomatic, sensible people Zoro has ever met, the girl is a revolutionary in heart and mind – this much is obvious after only a few minutes of conversation with her. She chafes at the injustices of the world in a way that none of the Strawhats – except for maybe Sanji, at times – seem to. Though it's obvious that Luffy wants to ask her to join, Zoro doubts she would make it for long as a pirate and not a rebel. So altogether, Kaira and her people are so damn _nice_ that most of the strawhats can't wait for her to join.

Zoro is so caught up in the niceties, in fact, that he almost misses the death threat tucked into the sheath of one of his swords.

* * *

 **Shitty chapter is shitty**

 **There was a HUGE bit of foreshadowing near the beginning of this chapter. Wonder if any of you caught it? Let me know what you think it was!**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please review and here come the review replies!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 21, Jun 6:**

 ** _Another great chapter !  
"Why does everybody know my brothers ?" xDDDD  
"Even small islands like Syrup" hehe I see what you did there. I hope they recruit Usopp on the archipelago and he makes Nami her Clima-tact !  
It amazes me how the strawhats just always seem to fit together. It's barely been a week and they've already fallen into a routine and are just being as awesome as ever.  
CORAZON *-* gosh I'm just so excited this is going to be mind-blowing and I still have no clue about what could have happened. But in this fic Roci is kind of Law's adoptive father too.. Does that mean Law is coming back ? I guess we'll have to wait for Sabo's pov..  
I think you made a swall mistake in that paragraph.. You wrote "Reminiscence filled Sabo's voice" instead of Sanji :/  
Thanks to Nami, the Revs haven't totally failed at killing off some marines _"  
THEY MIGHT STILL BE HAVING THE SEX X''DDDDDDDDDDDD  
Oh god... XD I hope there's a story behind that one, coz I wanna hear it !  
Such a beautiful ending. You're treating us. Thank you so much..  
I had forgotten about the bomb being Ace's ! I'm so going to love this x3  
I'm glad I was wrong about the traitor coz I love Scarlet and Leo but PLEASE LET IT NOT BE ONE OF THE STRAWHATS. Or Ace, or Sabo. Or Vivi. Or a commander. Or OH WHY DOES THERE HAVE TO BE A TRAITOR ANYWAY T_T  
I love this, I love ya  
Til next time~_**

 **It's like 2 am and I'm rushing to post this so I'll keep this reply short – but thank you so much! I'm glad you caught my usopp reference – he turns up soon! And I can't wait to add him in :D and CORAZON. YES. The plot thickens and thickens and oh wow okay too thick too thiCK**

 **Thanks for pointing out the mistake, I've fixed it now! I'm an idiot D: and thanks again for reviewing, it means so so much ;_;**

* * *

 **Kawaii Snowdrop, Chapter 22, Jun 6:**

 ** _Every time you post a chapter I can't help but think that you're a machine XD How on earth do you manage to write such wonderful chapters all the time? You must have a time turner or something!  
Also, poor Sanji - I sure hope you don't kill either him or Sabo before they get a chance to meet again. My poor heart couldn't take it :)_**

 **Thank you thank you thank you! *dissolves into incoherent puddle of blushing***

 **As for Sanji and sab….well, you'll just have to wait and see.**

* * *

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 22, Jun 7:**

 ** _This story, oh boy this story. You always leave me with more questions then answers. Like is Sabo really dead, what is Ace up to, will he have to say good bye to Pidge (every time I read that all I can think about is Voltron), just to name a few. And don't get me started on Luffs being Shanks son. (I screamed with happiness)_**

 **Pidge….yes, that may have been a teeny weeny little ref to voltron… just a little bit.**

 **I'm so glad you're liking it! I hope you like how the plot is progressing and rest assured, all shall be revealed in the future!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 22, Jun 7**

 ** _FUCK YES THE BIRDS ARE SINGING THE SKIES HAVE CLEARED WORLD PEACE HAS BEEN DECLARED THE BORDERS ARE GONE okay yeah I'm a little excited but I fucking reunion! I'm screaming! It was! Amazing! Also if you aven't already I'd greatly recommend listening to the Hamilton version of story of tonight cuz I bit slower than the We The Kings version, a peaceful I'm looking at the moon and contemplating my future kinda song. It was so nice seeing Koala, but when I heard Shanks I around I thought we weren't going to get the reunion but we did! Aaaaaaa! aND WE FUCKIN GOT A GLIMPSE OF ACE AND WHATEVER THE HELL HE'S DOING SO THAT IS AMAZING honestly the whole trip through the east was so eery... I could imagine it perfectly and man it was creepy. Keep up the good work I fuckin love this story!_**

 **Ahhh thank you so much for the lovely review! I listened to all of Hamilton and that somehow brought me onto a whole host of other songs, and now I'm somehow in X-Ambassadors hell, listening to 'torches' and crying abt luffy while I write this ;_; it fits him so much….**

 **I don't know what to say and Im heckin exhausted but thank you so so so much ily. Your enthusiasm for this fic is just incredible and I love it so much**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 22, Jun 7:**

 ** _Yes, Shanks and Luffy reunion ! I wasn't expecting it so soon when I said I hoped it happened. Now Luffy can learn that Ace is alive, and apparently flying over his ship to who knows where though neither knows.  
So Koala got brought in and she knows something, that #49 is the same as the one in the letter Ace got , so maybe not marine base 49 like I thought, but then why do they want the brothers, and why all 3? Is Sanji seeing similarities between Luffy and Sabo related to that? I feel like it's relevant somehow.  
I loved how Zoro faced Shanks without backing down, always protecting the crew.  
Could you please draw the scene with Chopper on Zoro's head when they all play cards.  
Thanks for the updates and I'm glad it helps you, your dedication really shows in your work, it's hard to find good stories with updates this fast._**

 **Hey!**

 **First, on the topic of 49 – it extends pretty damn far into the history of the world in this au. And I mean, it's HUGE when it comes to the fate of asl. Like damn. 49 is everything. But I cant say much more than that!**

 **I'll try to draw that scene when I have time, possibly on the weekend! For now there are some mildly spoiler-y drawings of haley on strays-fic if you fancy taking a look? Thanks so much for reviwing!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 22, Jun 7:**

 ** _*crying because she posted her last review minutes too late* Heya ! You didn't even slow up the pace down to less than a chapter per day ARE YOU GOD OR SOMETHING  
Koala-sempai ! I thought she'd be in the marine with Sabo ! Bet they meet at one point though ;3 Anyway I'm glad we get to see her  
*picturing the scene with the strawhats sleeping together* OH MY THIS IS SO CUTE I'M GONNA DIIIIIE *_*  
Hm what's this file Koala you hiding something ? *reads on* NOOOO so you're with those filthy assholes who hurt Sabo ? Why ? ;_; Is Robin one of them as well ?  
And does that make Koala the traitor ? Seriously I've become completely paranoïd since you said there would be one.. I've even come to suspect Haruta coz well you never know where she could have run off to when she got separated with Zoro and she could have been forced to infiltrate the Revs and of course we would feel empathy she's just a child and OH SCREW MY TWISTED MIND I just don't knoooow !  
And I get that they want Ace and Sabo what with their strange marks and all but what the hell do they want with Luffy ? Do they think he and his brothers are actually related by blood or are they just using him to catch Ace ?  
NOOOOOO YOU CAN'T DO THAT ! YOU JUST CAN'T DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT I mean of course you can but THAT'S JUST TOO CRUEL T_T To know that Luffy and Ace were mere meters- fucking meters from each other and didn't know- when the latter has been searching for his otouto for fucking years- I jus't can't... When I read that, I actually put my hands to my face and started screaming silently.  
SHANKS ?! No way ! This is so great I totally didn't expect that like HOLY SHIT I'm so EXCITED *_*  
Thank. You. So. Much._**

 **Heyo! I'm glad you liked the chapter, and yes! Of course koala's hanging around. Who doesn't love koala? I love koala. We all love koala. And she's most certainly going to pop up a lot in the future of this fic…;) but I wouldn't say she's with the people trying to hurt sab necessarily. The number 49 does have a pretty deep meaning…**

 ***whistles* nobody's guessed who it is yet…**

 **I know I'm so mean….i love luffy and ace but I had to, even though it's pAINFul as FUCK to do this to them. And yes! Shanks is here! The dad is back! *cheers***

 **Thank you so much for reviewing! Again, sorry for the rather short answer, I'm tired.**

* * *

 **gayastronaut, Chapter 22, Jun 7:**

 ** _jeez I decide to go internet free for few days and I come back to this. All these incredible chapters and developments and heart pounding moments! Luffy arc is also shaping up to be a damn good. And Shanks makes surprise appearance once again! He has like best luck ever for stumbling upon his lost children like that. I can't wait to read about their heartfelt reunion, even thinking about it makes me happy_**

 **heyo!**

 **I hope the reunion lives up to your expectations, and I'm so glad you're enjoying this fic! I'm enjoying writing it, even if it can be tiring, and I just hope the quality is staying consistent! Thank you thank you THANK YOU for reviewing, ily!**

* * *

 **Vertschl, Chapter 19, 8h ago:  
** ** _Wow. Alright. I'm reading chapter after chapter.. lots of catching up to do, but I just had to comment at this point.  
_** ** _So Ace is indirectly responsible for Luffy getting bombed/hurt? Hopefully not killed (but then there wouldn't be 15 chapters, right? ;)) I hope he doesn't find out..  
_** ** _"Herr stands, and Tessa follows, straightening her folder and shooting Ace a slightly calculating look." Ace?  
_** ** _I love the (almost) daily updates even if it means that I have to read a few chapters at once :)  
_** ** _I'm off to continue with the story :)_**

 **Vertschl, Chapter 22, 6h ago** **:  
** ** _Oh no. Was that Ace missing Luffy & Co? How sad :(  
Nooo you just had to end the chapter there, didn't you? T.T  
Cliffhangers are cruel! How could you? :P  
Till next time!_**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing omg**

 **Ahhh, so sorry for that mistake! Thanks for letting me know, I've fixed it now! I did a stupid T-T and I'm glad you like what I'm publishing, I like writing it! :D**

 **As for your second review – yes, yes it was. I am a little evil when it comes to those two. And of course I had to end it there! Again, evil.**

 **Again, thank you for reviewing, ily!**

* * *

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 21, 52m ago:**

 ** _Lovin' the update on Luffy! And wonderful use of Hamilton! ;)_**

 **Thank you so much! And yes, Hamilton is by far The Best thing I could have put to end that chapter. Hamilton is just perfect… *coughs***

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 22, 4m ago:**

 ** _THAT LAST PART OF THE NON-OMAKE PART GASP  
Ey, the Loguetown group assembled!  
You still need to keep track of your health before you update a fic_**

 **Heyo! Thanks again for reviewing – I'm glad I've got you hooked! As for my health, Ill be able to crash on the weekend so honestly, I'll be okay. It means a lot that you care, though, thank you!**


	24. 2-8 - Stories

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **HEY GUYS**

 **Sorry. im trying the write chapter 24, 'the sniper', but the inspiration just isn't coming. So I thought I would throw in this sorta-bonus chapter to get the words flowing again, before moving on with the storyline. Im so sorry people, I want to carry on the plot but I've been staring at a blank doc for three hours and I just need to write SOMETHING.**

 **So this is exposition! A lot of exposition. Take a look at their fucking HORRIFIC pasts lmao**

 **AND EXTRA WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER** **–** ** _IMPLIED_** **SEXUAL ASSAULT. I'LL MARK IT WITH A * WHEN THE SCENE COMES UP SO YOU CAN SKIP IT IF YOU PLEASE. NOTHING GRAPHIC, AS ALWAYS.**

* * *

 **Chapter 24 - Stories**

* * *

One by one, they tell him their stories.

It starts with Zoro. It always has. He's the one Luffy's known the longest out of all of them (besides Sanji, that is), and though he isn't the most open of people, he feels like he'll explode if he keeps it all in any longer. It's an unusually quiet night on base 49, and if Zoro concentrates, he can hear the waves lapping at the shore outside the bunker over the sound of snoring.

Luffy is shifting around in the bunk below his own, breathing uneven, obviously unable to get to sleep. He's always been restless, unable to stay still, even in sleep. All it would take was a whisper, and they can sneak out to the roof and Zoro can finally, _finally_ talk.

Throwing caution to the wind, Zoro leans over the end of his bunk and whispers into the darkness, "Luffy?"

A few seconds of silence pass, and somebody grunts, "Shut it." Then, Luffy clambers up onto Zoro's bed, as nimble as a monkey. The thirteen-year old has grown a lot since Zoro met him. His black hair was shaved when he first got here, and is only just starting to look as it did when they first met, strands sticking up everywhere, overgrown at the front. His brown eyes are dark, pupils blown wide and dark in the half light.

"Zoro!" Luffy says joyfully, and about five people hiss curse words at him at once. Pouting and muttering something that sounds like, 'touchy', he crosses his arms across his chest and leans back against the wall, shoulder pressed against Zoro's. "What did you want me for?" This time, the young soldier keeps his voice to a reasonably soft whisper.

"Do you want to sneak out to the roof?" Zoro breathes back, glancing out of the window into the dry, dark night. Beside him, Luffy perks up.

"Sure!" Luckily, this time the kid remembers to keep his voice low. As one, both teens slip down from the top bunk and to the floor on silent feet, used to this routine. As they pass, a few people groan and grunt at them to shut it, and Sanji insults Zoro sleepily as they brush past him. They stick close together outside of the room, keeping to the right wall of the corridor, trying to conceal themselves in shadow. Luffy is surprisingly stealthy on these nightly excursions, feet light as he pads through the halls like Zoro's shadow. It doesn't take them long to reach the ladder to the roof, and they only have to stop once to let a few men pass. By the time the pair are on the roof, Zoro has made his decision. He's going to tell Luffy.

They sit, side by side under the southern half-moon, legs dangling over the side of the building. Far below, waves batter the rocks, the sound of them as clear in the night as a foghorn. Silence reigns for a minute or so, hot and still, before Zoro says, "I used to have a sister called Perona. Back on my home island, I mean."

Tilting his head to the side in mild confusion, Luffy nods and says, "Okay…" Zoro can tell that he probably isn't interested, probably doesn't care whether he knows about Zoro's story or not, but now that the swordsman's started talking, he can't stop.

"My dad was pretty distant, I guess. We were all pretty secretive, because he and Perona both had Gifts, and- well, you know how things were. _Are_. His was the ability to reinforce weapons – swords, in his case – until they were completely indestructible; the people he sold them to called them 'black blades'. And he said he'd teach me how to use a sword when I turned ten, but when me and Perona were eight, he just- left. One morning, he just wasn't there. So me and Perona had to look after ourselves from then on."

Curling his arms around his legs, Luffy fixes his gaze on the waves and says nothing. For once, he actually seems to be listening.

"It went okay for a while, but when she was nine, Perona's Gift was triggered. Some boys from the town had seen the mark on the back of her neck and wanted to see some of her 'weird magic'. So when I was out trying to find food one night, they followed her back to our house and-" Zoro clenches his fists, glaring fiercely at the moon, as if it is the source of all of his anguish. "She didn't last long. Her Gift flew out of control. By the time I got to the house, all three boys were unconscious on the floor and she was in the corner, screaming at me not to touch her."

"What was her power?" asks Luffy softly, still staring down at the ocean.

"She could create hollows inside people. Make them loose their mind. Steal their souls just by touching them. She left people as empty shells, not able to feel anything but anger and fear. And when she lost control that night, she never really got it back." Biting his lip, the fifteen-year old squeezes his eyes shut. "I tried to keep her from touching people, tried to lock her in the house, but it was only a matter of time before she touched me by accident. And it was suddenly like everything – everything I'd ever felt, everything I was feeling – just went away."

A strong gust of cool wind, unusual for this climate, suddenly tears past. Both boys press closer together as the thick northern gust stirs up the seas below, the air permeated by the sharp smell of sea salt.

"It lasted about a year. Perona did everything she could do to make my feel again. She would sing, or read me the paper in a stupid voice – and every day, she wrote 'happy' on my collarbone. Right here. But none of it ever worked. I had no energy, no motivation to move. Every day felt like my last one, I didn't want to carry on. I can't count how many times I contemplated just ending it." Luffy looks like he's about to be sick. Zoro wants to stop, he really does, but the words keep ebbing and flowing out of him like some uncontrollable tide. "It only stopped a year after it had started when-" A thick sniff. "Perona got sick. Really sick, really fast. And- you can guess what happened. She was gone and I was mourning and alone and scared but… _god_ , Luffy, I've never felt so happy."

Showing the lack of restraint that Zoro knows all too well, Luffy presses closer to him still, as if he's trying to take his grief and share it between them. "Perona's happy that you're happy again. I bet she is! And I am too."

Neither speak for a moment, but Zoro allows himself to take a scrap of comfort from the words before he says, "Is it wrong that I hate Gift users? I know that it's wrong, and I know that it wasn't her fault, but– I can't explain how much that feeling hurt. If something can cause that-"

"I know." Yawning, taking in the smell of salt and the ocean, the younger of the two teens says, "I'm really glad you're alive, Zoro."

Neither of the pair feels like moving from their place for a while, and Zoro's story is told.

The next to tell their story, two years and a world of pain later, is Nami. It's the night after the explosion, and the rain pours thick and fast outside, gleaming on the tropical green leaves. Chopper hasn't slept, fretting about infection in Sanji's arm, constantly having to change the bandages because _he just won't stop bleeding_. Franky and Brook are asleep after a long day of helping Chopper and salvaging what they can from the ship. Luffy is awake, sitting alone on the porch with his legs crossed as he stares out into the darkness of the forest surrounding them.

On a whim, Nami sits beside him. Her ear is aching, the stitches running up it feeling foreign and irritated, and her whole being aches for Vivi, wishes to see her just for a second. All of her hurts after the explosion and the chaos that followed it. She hasn't felt this alone in a long time, so maybe sitting beside Luffy will help.

"Hi, Luffy."

Said teen yawns, drawing a swirling pattern with his finger into the dust at his feet. "Hey, Nami."

 ***PART MENTIONED AT START***

Tucking her hair behind her ear, Nami starts to talk. It comes surprisingly easily. She tells Luffy about the day the slavers took her, how the sun on her skin felt strangely cold that morning, about how Zoro and Haruta screamed at the slavers to let her go but they didn't. They didn't let go until she was locked in the cold, damp storage hold of their ship. She tells him about Haley, and about how she had her first kiss but it never meant anything and both of them were too afraid, too damaged, too young to start a relationship like that. She even tells him about the slavers themselves. Through it all, Luffy listens.

"They took what they wanted." By this point, angrily, Nami is trying to swipe the tears from her eyes. "They never had any restraint. There was nobody there to stop them. And even though I was only there for a few weeks, I'll never forget it. I can't get back what they took, Luffy, I can never get my freedom back! I can't even get my peace of mind back! They'll always be there, always waiting, always-" She chokes up, cheeks flushed and damp, and can't get any more words out.

Suddenly, Nami flinches and looks up as Luffy wraps his hand around her own. If it was any other person she would think it a romantic gesture, an attempt to flirt or form a connection. But with Luffy… She's seen him wrapping his arms and legs around Zoro so tightly it looks like the man can't breathe, cuddling Chopper, grabbing Sanji's hand to pull him around, sitting on Franky's shoulders with his legs around his neck. And she's only known him for a few days. He's so tactile, so unrefined in his affection. It's astonishing.

 ***PART END***

"We're gonna find freedom soon, okay?" Luffy says, still holding her hand, and he flashes her a blinding smile.

"Okay…" Nami sniffs, wiping her eyes, and clutches his hand tighter with a new sense of hope. They don't move from the porch for the rest of the night, until Chopper comes out and announces that Sanji is unconscious – close to comatose but alive, no longer bleeding heavily. Together, the three of them sit like a frontier against the dark of the forest, protecting the four inside who can't protect themselves.

Of course, next comes Franky. He spins Luffy tales of his hometown, telling him about his workshop and his young, big dreams of joining the revolution. His stories light up the gloom of the east, stretching through the constant darkness of smoke and wet mist. Luffy listens eagerly as the cyborg tells him all about his workshop, and Tom and Iceburg and Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe.

"I can't wait to meet them when we get there!" Luffy beams, ever the optimist.

"It'll be good to see them…" Franky leans back with a satisfied smile, up against the mast, and snaps the lid off a bottle of cola. It make a familiar hissing noise, and he takes a long sip. "I was at the base for years."

"How did you get there, anyway?" Typical Luffy – uncaring of whether he's dragging up bad memories, tactless, coming close to unsympathetic but never quite reaching it.

Luckily, Franky doesn't seem particularly bothered by the topic. "Made a stupid mistake, I guess, bro. I built a ship and wanted to travel the world but when I reached the west, a marine ship caught me. It only took one blood test and then-" He makes a vague gesture with his hand. "Suddenly they're making me into some SUPERR cyborg!" Striking a pose, the man watches with a grin as Luffy's eyes light up.

Sanji and Luffy talk mostly about Sabo, surprisingly. The darkness of the Eastern Terror is fading behind the Merry Go, and they sit together in the crows' nest under the dim sun, Luffy poking curiously at the mess of stitches that mark the place where Sanji's left arm used to be. It isn't exactly comfortable, but it doesn't hurt so Sanji lets him carry on, resigned to the itchy feeling in his shoulder.

Eventually, after having decided that he's seen enough, Luffy flops down beside his friend and says, "Shanks said that Sabo's alive, by the way."

Sanji flinches violently, shooting up from where he's sitting and fixing Luffy with an incredulous look. "Seriously? And you only thought to tell me this now?!"

"Sorry!" The idiot doesn't look sorry at all. "He said Sabo went south after I was taken to find me or someth'n like that. I think. But when we get to Ace in the north, he can call Sabo and then I can be with my brothers and you can see Sabo and Zoro and Nami can see-"

"Okay, I got it!" 'Tch'ing, but without any heat behind his voice, Sanji asks, "Now that we've established that your Sabo and my Sabo are the same person… What was Sabo like when you first met him? How did he get to you?"

Screwing up his face like he's trying to remember something very distant, Luffy says, "I think I was about seven, and he was ten. Yeah. And when he first arrived, he had a lot of nightmares – about a carrot, actually. He was pretty weird!"

Unknown to his friend, Sanji's heart clenches. Still, all he says is, "Oh."

"He arrived on a captured ship," Luffy babbles on, seeming not to notice Sanji's inner turmoil. "And I remember one day Ace told me, 'he's from the west, so don't ask about his history'. And he had blonde hair and blue eyes and-"

Sanji says nothing this time, letting his self-named captain carry on spouting random facts that he already knows. If Sabo was ten, then he was only alone for a year before he met Luffy and Ace. At least that much is a plus.

"Were you guys close?" he finds himself asking, before he's thought the question through fully. Luffy tails off, looking as if he doesn't know how to answer, before smiling at the ground. Something about that smile makes it seem far warmer, far more sincere than his wide, fierce grin.

"Yeah," the ex-soldier answers, still smiling. "They were the best brothers in the world."

When it comes to Chopper, he and Luffy exchange words about days past, in the dead of night, both unable to sleep with the weight of nightmares on their consciousness's. It's a quiet night, the last of the screams eerie and distant across vast expanses of ocean and sky. Above, where the firebird once flew, stars glint through wisps of clouds.

"After you left, they moved me into one of the long-stay labs," Chopper says suddenly, breaking the silence, voice uneasy and soft. "They wanted to see if they could make a monster, something they could use to invade in the north. And I kept thinking that you were going to come back, 'cause you'd always told me that you were a monster when you were fighting, and I really missed you, and…"

He trails off hopelessly, looking down at the hooves that he's so used to being human hands. Luffy's leaning back, hands behind his head and eyes on the stars. The pale scars from botched injections seem to gleam, almost raw, on his forearms. With a shiver, Chopper presses closer to his old friend, fur bristling in the cold.

"I really missed you too," Luffy eventually answers, eyes not moving. "But you lived, Chopper! _We_ lived! And now we've got Zoro and Sanji and Nami and Franky and Brook! And soon there'll be more of us, too, just wait. And we'll find my brothers and achieve our dreams and live as freely as we want."

"Do you think I could become a doctor?" Chopper asks quietly.

Shrugging flippantly, Luffy answers, "Well, Sanji would be dead if it wasn't for you. I think that counts, right?"

* * *

Luffy is treating Franky and Chopper to a rendition of his T-Rex impression, three-finger claws waggling and all, when Brook asks to have a word with him. Looking a little put-out but knowing instinctively what Brook wants, the teen breaks away from his conversation and follows the skeleton to a secluded spot on the deck of Merry. Both settle down. The crew are only a few days from Nami's island now, and the sun hasn't stopped shining every day for what feels like years. Nami is still very freckly, and Zoro and Luffy very brown, and Sanji spends most of his time indoors, peeling and burning in the sun.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Luffy-san, I… I heard you talking to some of the others about their lived before joining the crew, and I think there's something you need to know," Brook begins tentatively. "About something Nami asked me a few weeks ago."

"Oh, yeah?" Luffy tilts his head to the side, picking his nose and looking like he doesn't particularly care. "What is it?"

"Nami asked me something about the number 49. Do you… know anything about that letter?" The skeleton says everything as if he's thinking it through meticulously.

Wrinkling his nose, the boy thinks for a minute or so. "It's familiar, but I don't think so… But I feel like I should recognise it?"

Brook picks at the wooden railing with a single bony finger. "I was alive a long time ago, multiple centuries at least. In a time when Gifts were rarer, and the world didn't hate people for having them." For once, Luffy looks like he's actually listening. "People with Gifts were numbered at birth - there were less than a hundred of them when I was alive – and lived above the rest of us. But there was one man who didn't try to use his power to control the people. He called himself a pirate, started up the 'age of the pirates', and a lot of people followed in his giant footsteps."

"And?" Luffy leans forward, actually looking interested now.

"Well, I was one of the pirates who tried to follow him. And the golden age of piracy was truly amazing, but it couldn't last. There was anarchy. Soon, a government had to rise; but there was a mad scramble for power first, and when authority finally did come to place, it wasn't exactly the most… gentle system."

"'Gentle' system?"

"They wanted to start an uprising – usurp the Gift users, have them imprisoned at birth. And they told us that it would be the end to our troubles, so what were we supposed to believe, Luffy-san?" Brook sounds like he's trying to justify something, voice soft, eyes on the ocean. "These people called themselves the 'World Government', and there was one man, a Gift user, who was infamous for fighting them. And his symbol…"

"His symbol…?" Luffy prompts, engrossed now.

"His symbol was a straw hat, Luffy-san. And he was still alive when I died."

"My dad gave me my strawhat when I was a kid, and I left it on my island, so maybe one of my brothers has it…" Luffy ponders. "Maybe somebody passed it down to him?"

"I think you've misunderstood me, Luffy-san," Brook replies. "This man was a young man when I was born, and I died when I was eighty. And he was still a young man."

"Seriously?" Luffy's face beaks out in a grin. "That's so cool." A thought seems to occur to him. "Wait, you saw Shanks when he visited, right? If that guy was immortal or somethin'…he didn't look like Shanks, did he?"

For the first time during the conversation, Brook turns to look his friend in the face. "Not at all, no." He opens his mouth to interrupt, but Luffy beats him to it.

"If there's some big mystery with my hat, we'll discover it when we're travelling. Don't you want to wait until we have our adventure to do this?" Luffy laughs. "It'll be cool to find out about the weird 49 thing, and the strawhat and everything when we're travelling the world!"

Brook looks like he doesn't know what to say for a minute or so, staring at Luffy wide-eyed, before looking away, humming. "Whatever you say, Luffy-san."

"You said you were alive all that time ago but you died – did the people at the experimentation base, like, wake you up?"

"They reanimated my body, yes. Although, I am only bones, yohohoho…"

* * *

"Who could have slipped it in there, though, Zoro-bro?" Franky is saying. Luffy isn't really listening. His eyes are fixed on the folded note on the table, pale in the dim light of dusk streaming through the window. It doesn't feel like he can tear them away.

Half an hour or so ago, Zoro found a note slipped into the sheath of Wado. He gathered the strawhats, more curious than creeped out, and they've been spending the time since then wondering just how somebody could have snuck the note into Zoro's sword sheath – which is always by his side – without him noticing a thing. After all, the swordsman is hardly the kind of person who daydreams often; though Sanji would argue the opposite, simply for the sake of arguing.

"Luffy?" Nami asks suddenly, and all eyes turn towards the teen. He's still staring at the note, but seems to jolt back to reality when she calls his name.

"Ah, sorry, Nami." His brow is still furrowed deeply. "What does it say, exactly? Every word."

Perplexed at the question, Zoro reaches across the table and grabs the note, unfolding it and reading out the contents. " _'You're standing on a timebomb. Run from Strawhat Luffy. #49._ '"

Both Brook, Luffy and Nami flinch, the former two shooting each other looks, the latter looking stunned and slightly horrified. A fine shiver runs up Chopper's spine, and he grabs Zoro's arm with a small hoof, as if he's afraid that somebody's going to grab him right there and then.

Sanji evidently isn't taking the whole thing seriously. "What's that supposed to mean? As if anybody's gonna be running from _Luffy_ of all people."

Ignoring Luffy's shout of 'hey!', Zoro replies, "No idea, dartbrow. But I'm sure I've heard the number 49 somewhere before…And why would they even call him 'strawhat'? After the name of our crew or something? It sounds like some shitty epithet to me."

Nami opens her mouth and takes a breath to speak, before closing her mouth again. She trusts the crew a little, sure, but she can't let them pull all her cards away from her chest.

* * *

 **Yeahh…this one is short and honestly I'm not very happy with it, but oh well. Take it! The next chapter will be better, and have a lot more significance to the plot.**

 **Review replies! So many of them omf**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 23, Jun 9:**

 ** _ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I HATE YOU FOR MAKING ME FEEL THIS WAY! whAT THE HELL IS THAT FORESHADOWING  
DONT YOU FUCKING KILL OFF SHANKS IM SO DAMN MAD AND AFRAID FOR LUFFY BECAUSE ITS SO UNFAIR FOR SHANKS TO DIE WHEN HE PROMISED NOT TO AAAAGGGHHHH /sCREAMS FOREVER INTO THE ABYSS  
"Life goes on." SHOVE A FUCKING CACTUS UP MY ASS I WANT TO DIE  
im sorry (read: not really) for all the cussing but gOD DAMN that was a hell of an update! i read the entire story up to chapter 22 last night in like 3 hours and saw an update today so I was like HOLY SHIT THE REUNION! THE REUNION!  
but then the damn foreshadowing slapped me like a bitch in a bad day  
you're a damn genius and i want to make art for you._**

 **Me and my friend laughed for about an hour about 'shove a fucking cactus up my ass I want to die' thank you so much omg ;_; and I'm very sorry for giving you feelings! (read: not sorry at all). I'm so glad you liked the reunion! I was a little unsure about it, but it's great to know that somebody loved it T-T**

 **You're a damn genius and I want to hug you**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 23, Jun 9:**

 ** _Why did you choose 49 tho hmmm  
Remember to relax every day. There's no such thing as "making up" rest._**

 **Heyo! As for 49, nobody's gotten it yet. Nobody's even gotten close (except for this one guest). But I've got high hopes! Somebody will get it eventually.**

 **As for taking a break, I took your advice – hence why this chapter is so late. It really helped! Thank you for caring :D**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 23, Jun 9:**

 ** _It's okay if you're busy and can't post as often don't be so hard on yourself.  
So new theory, 49 is somehow connected to Roger and that's why Brook mentions strawhat but that brings so many questions, is he still alive? And why would he want the asl? Or is it an enemy of Roger's? I'm guessing you won't be able to answer since you don't like spoilers but please some kind of hint?  
As always I love anything that shows Chopper and Zoro being close so I found Chopper looking at Zoro when he's apprehensive adorable.  
I hope Shanks lives, he has to be able to see his sons reunited and I wonder if he will meet Sabo. The reunion was everything I'd hooed for and more, same with Nami and Vivi. Poor Zoro, he's bored when things are calm, though I feel like they won't stay that way for long, I love him and Nami wanting to see Ace again.  
You'll seriously try? It's obvious you're busy so please remember you don't have to and I've seen your Hayley drawings, isn't her surname Blackburn like the man who picks Luffy? Thanks for both the art and the story, take care_**

 **49… it's such a long complicated explanation but you're the first to get close! Ayyy! As for the rest of your questions, I can't reveal anything yet but trust me when I say it's going to be completely insane!**

 **Of course zoro and chopper are close, I love the so much :')**

 **I haven't had time to draw that scene yet – work is hell – but when july rolls around I should have more time. As for haley's surname, you may or may not have a point. Idk. I'm just as curious as you are**

 **Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 1, Jun 9:**

 ** _okay man i have NO idea for 49 like its so mysterious you could say its literally anything and I'll be surprised at this point. I loved the entire reunion between Shanks and Luffy it was so sweet! but of course that made the seperation even worse when they did part ways (it broke my heartnalthough it was really nice to see Kaira and Vivi again! i love that in this world of chaos and darkness there's at least one little island of peaceful boringness. FORESHADOWING I CAUGHT IT: SABO IS LOST IN stormy... down... HE'S LOCKED UP IN IMPEL DOWN ASDFGHJKL I FIGURED IT OUT I'M A GENIUS (locked up in impel down... in a coma cuz I'm not letting go of that theroy quite yet) awesome chapter, as always keep up the good work but dont burn yourself out! while I was writing control i hit the worst writers block about 2 months in because I'd been writing so much i suddenly burned out :c it sucked_**

 **I'm glad you have no idea about 49 tbh, it'll make the reveal even more insane ;) as for the reunion between luff and shanks, yesss! I loved writing it so so much, they're such dorks. And kaira and vivi…..they'll have a huge part in the next chapter, don't worry.**

 **YOU CAUGHT MY FORESHADOWING. But you didn't quite interpret it perfectly….i can't say much, but you did pick up on the foreshadowing. As for 'stormy down', it may be a real place in this world for all you know. I'll leave you with that…**

 **As for burning out, I think I know what you mean ;_;**

* * *

 **MelodiofHope, Chapter 23, Jun 9:**

 ** _So I had things I needed to do on my day off but I sat here and read this whole thing in one sitting instead. This is such an awesome story! I can't wait to see how Ace and Luffy meet back up because Ace is actually gonna go crazy if he thinks both his brothers are dead, not that I think Sabo is dead! He's survived worse lol! Thanks for the awesome story can't wait to read the rest!_**

 **aaaAAAH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEW ILY**

 **I'm so glad you like the story! And that you can't wait to read on! And I don't even know what to say but tysm!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 23, Jun 10:**

 ** _Amazing chapter! I actually read the first few chapters a while back and I remember being awed by your world building and the depth of your characters even then. I haven't read anything since and imagine my delight now coming back to see that it's gone all the way to ch 23! I love any ASL fanfic but very few can get (and keep!) my attention like yours does. That being said, I get the nasty feeling that Sabo has something to do with the traitor in this, hopefully I'm wrong. I mean, Sabo knew of the Government's plan to burn Loguetown somehow, though in my opinion anything as drastic as bombing an entire island should've been kept top secret and I doubt Sabo was too high up in rank at the time. If all the marines knew then word would've spread one way or another. Don't know to make of my suspicions so I'll stay quiet for now. I really hope Sanji can get a new robotic arm soon, my heart bleeds for him! And OMG I'm gonna kill you cuz that blue fire bird was Ace riding Pidge wasn't it? I mean he was THIS close, THIS close to finding his lost little brother! That's just mean of you!Shanks and Luffy interacting was heartbreaking and I have half-a-mind to blame Shanks for all that's been happening to the ASL because every time he leaves something bad happens!  
I'm dying to know more abour #49 really, something to do with Luffy's rare blood type maybe? Anyway, I really hated Koala's approach on the matter, you made me wary of her nowOkay, so this is my first review, If I were to comment on everything I've read so far it would take me ages so I'll just stop here. From now on I promise I'll review with every chapter!  
By the way your update shedule is godly, it's keeping me going now that I feel like I'm loosing my mind. Thank you and keep writing amazing stuff!  
PS: I don't suppose you could help me find a beta? I've been emailing random beta volunteers for a while now for a One Piece one shot and my brain is fried!_**

 **Such a nice long review I'm screaming**

 **Hi! I'll go through everything you said bit by bit. As for what you said about sabo having something to do with the traitor, you're very very right. Can't say any more without spoiling it~**

 **Sanji will definitely get a prosthetic tbh. I mean, they're planning to get on when they get to water 7, but I'm not sure whether all that'll go to plan… *whistles surruptisciously* and yes that bird was ace and pidge! He was SO CLOSE but sadly, it didn't go to plan ;_; I feel so bad for them all.**

 **I'm really glad you liked shanks and luffy's interactions, I love writing them! And he definitely shouldn't leave, I know T-T as for 49, you're not really close but that is an interesting concept! And yes, koala… she's shady. Hella shady. That's all I can say.**

 **You'll seriously review every chapter?! Oh my god thank you so much ily!**

 **As for the thing abt a beta, I would usually offer but I'm a little busy rn. I'd try to ask a friend, and if you still can't find one, leave another review and I'll try to make the time to beta it for you!**

 **Thanks again for reviewing, you're amazing!**

* * *

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 23, Jun 11:**

 ** _Shanks is sssooooo dead. I see it. Might as well cry myself dry now._**

 ***gestures frantically to other reviewers* shhhh, they might hear you! We can't let them face reality yet!**

* * *

 **DescendingSnow, Chapter 11, Jun 12:**

 ** _wait. no sabo to call to? after 4 years, sabo will be DEAD?! No! nonono, .-. I will not accept that. Ok maybe reluctantly but it still hurts!_**

 **I can assure you that he isn't dead! Well, he's not quite** ** _alive_** **either, but we can ignore that part~**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 23, 21h ago:**

 ** _Yeah, Luffy. The whole story is about Ace thinking you are dead dammit T-T  
Stormy Down ? Is this foreshadowing for Sabo's actual location ?  
AND YOU'RE LEAVING AGAIN SHANKS HAVEN'T YOU LEARNED ANYTHING  
"I'll always be here when you need me" you've gotta be kidding ! And if you ever hear about him being hurt by the time you arrive it'll probably be too late -_-'  
I was wondering if 49 didn't mean, like, 50-1. A country taken down, maybe. I dunno.  
So, something to do with Roger ? The strawhat looks important..Are Luffy and co descendants of somebody important by any chance ?  
That Haley's father ?  
Vivi chwaaaaan~~ gosh I love her..  
I really enjoyed Zoro's pov you understand him so well *-*  
Great chap as always ! Did you get my mail ?  
Love~_**

 **Heyoo!**

 **Stormy down….mayyybe? I can't say much without spoiling it. Let's leave it at a maybe. Moving on!**

 **Yes, shanks is a complete idiot. And yes, it will be too late. As for 49… you're not quite there. It's not the wildest theory I've heard, tbf. Maybe it'll be a little more obvious after this chapter~**

 **Is that haley's dad? Good question.**

 **I love her too! I love her too much T-T and I'm really glad you enjoyed zoro's bit! He's one of my faves to write. What a dork.**

 **Your…mail?**

 **Ily, thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 23, 13h ago:**

 ** _I just thought of something! Maybe your 49 has something to do with the Enochian language? It was also called Celestial speech, the language that Adam used to speak to God and name all things in existence (I'm a bit quoting here). It says more but... I could be wrong._**

 **Oooh, that's a really interesting concept! Unfortunately I know absolutely NOTHING about enochian beyond what supernatural taught me when I watched it lmao. Still, it is something I could look at!**

 **Thank you so much for reviewing!**


	25. 2-9 - The Sniper

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **I am a mediocre cactus in need of validation, read this chapter**

* * *

 **Chapter 25 – The Sniper**

* * *

Vivi sits in a patch of afternoon sunlight and watches the strawhats. Watching them is slowly becoming one of her favourite pastimes – watching the smile that lights up Nami's face in their presence, watching their easy, natural conversation. Not for the first time, she finds herself wondering just how they got this close within only a few months. They all seem to work as seamlessly as some mismatched machine, moving in strange tandem, reacting to each other in ways so well-used and well-known that they almost seem worn with time.

Today, however, none of them are smiling. Zoro's face is masked with a permanent scowl directed at the note, as if it's the source of all of his problems. Luffy looks a strange mixture between shaken and curious, hands folding and unfolding in his lap, fiddling with the edge of his t-shirt as if he can't bear to keep his hands still. The others look somewhere between scared (Chopper), disdainful (Sanji) and disturbed (Franky and Brook).

Nami's face, however, draws Vivi's eyes immediately. The thief is staring at the slip of paper in the centre of the table with a distinctly contemplative look, as if she's trying to decide whether she should say something. Vivi knows one thing straight away; she knows something.

"What do you think, Vivi?"

The blue-haired girl jumps, shaken out of her thoughts by Luffy's question. She hadn't expected them to ask her about it – she's not exactly a part of the group. Still, she answers, "I don't know. But if somebody managed to get past all of you and get a note into the sheath of that katana, then the chances are they're very quick. They might have left the island already – Bushido-san, when was the last time you unsheathed your sword?"

Cocking an eyebrow at the nickname but making no comment, Zoro replies, "A few days ago. But I haven't left it alone, even when I'm sleeping. There's no way anybody could've gotten to it when I was awake, so…"

"So they must have been invisible!" chips in Luffy, looking carefree again, as if the shock that previously emanated from him is gone.

"No – the mosshead must have been sleeping, dumbass!"

"Guys, let Vivi talk!" Nami interrupts, sensing an argument about to break out. "So if it could have been a couple of days since the note was planted, then they should be far away from Kaira by now, right?"

"Yes – that is, unless they only planted it a few hours ago. Last night was the most recent time they could have gotten to it without detection."

"Should we scour the island?"

"Just to be safe, I think that would be the best option. Should we-"

Before Vivi manages to finish her sentence, there's a sharp knock on the door. All the strawhats and Vivi are sitting in a circle on the dusty floor of the old warehouse where, years ago now, Vivi and Ace made plans to usurp the head of the feudal dictatorship that once ruled her island. After all this time, it would seem that her diplomatic flare has never faded, nor her talent for tactics and levelheadedness.

Vivi stands to open the door but before she can, it is sent flying inwards. On the other side, a teen with purple hair is panting slightly, looking urgent. She nods to Nami in assent, as if they know each other quite well.

"Carina?" Nami asks, standing and tucking her orange hair behind her ear. "What is it?"

"We caught somebody trying to sneak off the island – we're holding him in Kohza's basement. The others want to see you all," Carina replies hurriedly, before stepping back from the door to let the strawhats file out. Brook has to duck comically just to keep from hitting his head on the doorframe, and Franky barely fits, but they manage it in the end and set off towards the house of whoever 'Kohza' is.

When they arrive, the hallways of the house are congested with what looks like the entirety of the village's population, all lined up to see what all the drama is about. Holding onto each other like some kind of snake, the strawhats, Carina and Vivi edge through the crowd and towards a flight of wooden stairs – then down, through a door and out into a cellar.

It takes a moment to take in the sight they're met with. A few villagers, assumedly the leaders, stand around a form bound on the floor. They're wriggling furiously, never slowing, fighting with all their might to free themselves from the ropes. The strangest thing about the person is the fact that they're wearing a round, intensely realistic mask resembling the head of a fox, and it wraps around their whole head like a fury globe. They don't speak nor scream, and make no sound except for the rustling of their clothes as they move. Their body is distinctly male, and lacks much muscle.

"What the hell?" Sanji asks first, stepping forwards but steering clear of the stranger tied up on the ground. There's a strange look on his face, something out of place among the other strawhats, and Vivi mentally catalogues it. "Has he been wearing that mask since you captured him?"

"Yep," replies a sandy-haired young man grimly, who Sanji vaguely recognises as Kohza. "None of us can get it off him, and he won't stop struggling. He doesn't seem to ever lose energy."

"Has he spoken?" asks Nami.

"Not a word. We found him down at the port, trying to steal a boat. What do you think we should do?"

Vivi steps forward, walking briskly around the body and cataloguing anything she can. Tanned, eastern skin. Curly black hair, skinny limbs and brown overalls, covering what is most likely a teenage body. He's just a little taller than Luffy, though not by much, and lacks the muscle that subtly lines most of the strawhats from years of experimentation, military service or thievery. There's a long, nasty looking burn scar on his left wrist, gleaming pale in the light of the basement, snaking up towards his elbow and out of sight. On the side of his neck is a small, red tattoo comprised what looks like the face of a fox, painted in abstract.

Altogether, aside from the tattoo and the bizarre mask, the guy looks pretty normal. Even burn scars are common nowadays, what with all of the eastern immigrants streaming in, running from the Terror. "There's not much unusual about him, except for that tattoo. Does anybody recognise it?"

Vivi can feel the room leaning in to get a closer look, and they all take a peak, all shaking their heads. Nobody has a clue what this strange symbol is. Even Brook, who's always seemed to know about the strangest of things, shakes his head with a frown.

"Alright," Nami says, taking charge, "Have some people scour the island and make sure that he had no accomplice. My crew and I will try to find out who he is, and if we don't manage it, we can keep him here until we find a way to take his mask."

Kohza twitches slightly at the word 'crew', exchanging looks with the other adults in the room, before nodding and turning on his heel to leave. Soon, only Vivi and the strawhats remain, crowded around the strange intruder. They glance at each other, uncertain on what to try first, not sure whether to talk lest the stranger hear them.

"Okay," Zoro starts with a sigh. "Look. You can either take off your mask and tell us who you are and who you're working for, or I'll cut off the mask and take your head along with it."

"Zoro, _no_ ," at least five voices reply immediately. The swordsman skilfully ignores all of them.

"He can't even get the stupid mask off on his own anyway! They tied him down!" pipes up Luffy unhelpfully.

"I guess cutting it off will have to work then." The grin on Zoro's face is `utterly feral. Before he can move to unsheathe the three katana at his side, however, the intruder goes abruptly, horribly still, as stiff as a board. All eyes land on him. The stranger stays perfectly still for a second longer, before suddenly, he convulses violently and goes limp.

The fox mask seems to detach itself from his neck and rolls limply off his head and to the floor. Underneath it is the tanned face of a teen around Luffy's age, with a very long nose, comically round lips and curly black hair scraped back from his face, covered by a dull yellow-brown bandana. He's out cold, dead to the world. On the whole, he looks incredibly, anticlimactically _normal_. The round mask rolls to a stop near Sanji's feet, and he aims an unusually vicious kick at it, startling Chopper. It smacks into the wall with a thump and something inside it cracks.

"Told you it would work," says Zoro, breaking the silence.

"You didn't even do anything, jackass!" And suddenly Zoro and Sanji are fighting again, just like always. However, this time Vivi can't just sit back and observe. This time, her gaze is trained on the unconscious teen on the ground. She gasps suddenly when the difference that she can see finally fits.

"Hey, look at his neck!"

Multiple pairs of eyes turn to look at the stranger's neck, where there used to be a small, red tattoo. ' _Used to'_ being the key word. Now, there's only a flat expanse of plain, dark skin.

"Huh, that's… weird." Nami lingers beside Vivi for a second, before stepping forwards to start to untie the strange teen. Catching Vivi's alarmed look, she says, "It's not like he can hurt anybody with these monsters around," gesturing to the other strawhats flippantly. Vivi follows her gaze with an uncertain nod, all the while noting that Sanji still has that strange look on his face.

* * *

It takes two days for the unusual boy to wake up and by the time he does, Luffy is close to bursting with curiosity about his identity. So, the first thing Usopp sees when he wakes up is a young, eager face hovering inches above him, brown eyes staring into his own, black hair sticking up in every direction. It takes the other teen a minute to process just what he's seeing, blinking sleep out of his eyes, before he jerks back with a yell. Feeling his forehead collide with the forehead of the boy, Usopp gives a shout of pain and clutches the abused area, scrambling backwards on the bed.

"Hi!" Not seeming to notice the other teen's panic, the strange boy beams at Usopp, legs crossed under himself. "You've been asleep for _ages_!"

"I- I have?" Taking a second to get his bearings, Usopp takes in his surroundings; he's lying on a bed at the far end of a majorly empty warehouse, and only he and the small boy are in the room. Outside the high windows, the sky is a brilliant blue.

"Where am I?" Usopp finds himself asking, tongue heavy in his mouth, running a hand back through his hair as a sudden wave of nausea hits him.

"This is Vivi's old place! She doesn't live here anymore, but she still owns it so I guess we thought we'd put you here till you woke up." The smaller teen tilts his head to the side, the image of innocent curiosity. "Hey, why did you put that weird note in Zoro's sword sheath? If you wanted to tell him something, you could'a just told him. I mean, he's a bit deaf at times, but I'm sure he would've heard you."

"Note?" Usopp asks, suddenly caught off-guard. "What note? And who's Zoro?"

"You know - the one about a bomb that you planted in the sheath of Wado?" With every word the boy says, Usopp gets still more confused.

"I don't have any idea what you're talking about," he says bluntly after a second, bandana feeling hot and sticky against his hair.

"Okay... Well, what's the last thing you remember?" the boy tries, as if that's going to work. Usopp's brain feels slow and sluggish, as if he's been using it far too rigorously and now it refuses to obey him.

"I think... I was just leaving Akagami's Archipelago to head north. And some weird person with a hood over their face came over to me, like they were going to greet me or something, and then everything went dark." Usopp scrunches up his face, confusion flooding through him. "Why? And how did I get here? I mean, where even are we?"

"Oh, yeah. Well we're on an island in the north-east, in a town called Kaira. And you got here with some weird fox mask on, and you put this mystery note in my friend's katana sheath, and then we managed to capture you before you got off the island. Then the fox mask came off, and then I guess you've been sleeping for a few days here."

If anything, that explanation did nothing but make Usopp still more confused. "Wait, fox mask? Are you sure?"

"Yep! I'm pretty sure Vivi kept the mask, actually, so it might be around here if you wanna see it." The boy grins again. "By the way, I'm Luffy!"

Taking the outstretched hand cautiously, Usopp shakes it, keeping his eyes on the boy's. "I'm Usopp."

Suddenly, the door at the other end of the warehouse bursts open and a girl with long orange hair steps in, glancing around until her eyes land on Usopp and Luffy in the corner. She looks shocked for a minute, before giving a groan of pure exasperation and striding over, pulling Luffy off the bed and smacking him upside the head. "What did I say about making friends with the enemies?!

"But he's not an enemy!" Luffy replies indignantly, even though the smack obviously didn't hurt that much. "He doesn't even remember why he was wearing that stupid mask, or why he came here, or anything at all!"

"Yeah, sure he doesn't." The redhead fixes Usopp with a glare, lip curling slightly in mistrust. "Believable. Really."

"Well, what am I supposed to say?!" Usopp shoots back, incredulous. "I really don't remember anything! And I don't know anything about a fox mask, or a note, or anything else you people are talking about!"

Luffy nods in assent, even though logically, he has no idea whether Usop is lying or not. Then again - logic has never exactly been a huge function in Luffy's though process. "He's telling the truth! The last thing he remembers is leaving Shanks' archipelago and then seeing some weird person, and then he woke up here!" Suddenly, Luffy's face breaks out in curiosity. "Hey, do you think he was mind controlled?" He turns to Usopp eagerly. "Were you mind controlled?!"

"I don't know!" Usopp shoots back, still breathing heavily, looking harried and panicked. "I don't know anything about all this! I don't even know how long it's been since I left the archipelago! I swear!"

The girl pins the teen with a scathing look, as if she's trying to x-ray him with her eyes, before sighing and nodding, backing down. "Fine. Let's say I believe you. But if you try anything, just know that any of us could kill you."

Shivering, Usopp nods hurriedly and says, "Who's 'us'?"

"We're pirates!" Luffy supplies, climbing up the bed to sit beside him with a grin. "That's Nami - she's a little grumpy, but she won't hurt you - and then we've got Zoro and Chopper and Brook and Franky and Sanji and Vivi!"

"You know Vivi hasn't actually joined us, right?"

"She will." Luffy says it with a kind of assuredness that makes Usopp feel like what he's saying is a fact, undisputable, even though it most likely isn't. Then, he's pinned with that broad smile again and the pirate says, "Come on! I want you to meet them all!"

As if on cue, the door swings open yet again and this time, two older teens walk in, bickering with each other so viciously that they appear not to notice that there's anybody else in the warehouse. One has slightly shaggy blonde hair, falling across one eye, and a single swirling eyebrow. The other has short, green hair, and a permanent scowl - his skin is as tanned as Usopps, clueing him in to where this man is originally from - and is wearing three swords at his hip. Both of them only pause in their arguing when they notice Usopp staring at them.

"What're you looking at?" the green-haired one says, raising an eyebrow, and Usopp gulps heavily, suddenly acutely aware of the pounding of his heart against his ribs.

"Probably the grass growing on your head, mossball!" the other says angrily, as if trying to get back at him for a previous jibe or insult – or draw the attention away from Usopp, for some reason. Something inside Usopp feels like he should recognise him, but he doesn't.

"What did you say, you girly fuck?!"

"I said-"

"Hey, guys, this is Usopp!" Luffy calls, breaking up the argument with the air of somebody who has had to do it time and time again. "He says he didn't mean to put the weird note with Wado, Zoro! And he might have been mind controlled. How cool is that?!"

"Cool enough to sound fake," the blond replies evenly and when he turns, Usopp realises for the first time that he's missing his left arm, right from the armpit. "You seriously believe that, Luffy?"

"I mean, stranger things have happened." Shrugging, the smaller teen hops off the bed lightly. "Our crew of pirates is made up of a thief, a swordsman, four muts and an amputee ex-solder."

Nami rubs her forehead, as if trying to ward off a headache. "You really do know how to put things in perspective, captain," she says, in a manner that makes it obvious that she isn't complimenting him.

Still, the kid takes it as that much. "Thanks, Nami!" He claps his hands as if to say, ' _down to business_ '. "Okay, let's go meet the others! I bet you'll like them!"

Usopp doesn't move, however. His mind is whirling with a thousand and one revelations. It feels like he's woken up after a century of slumber, and the whole world has moved on in his absence. Maybe soon he'll wake up to find that all this was some stupid, convoluted dream.

Luffy seems to sense his inner turmoil, however, and his face softens slightly. His wild grin is whittled down into a soft, knowing smile that somehow retains his childish joy. Moving quickly, he sits back down on the bed in front of Usopp and smile right up at him, brown eyes warm. "We'll find out what happened to you," he says, as if he knows exactly what's going through his head and exactly how to stop is whirling, churning thoughts. "But until then, don't you want to travel with us?"

Usopp's lips form a 'yes' before he can even think about what he's agreeing to, and Nami and Zoro exchange knowing looks. The sniper doesn't notice Sanji's measuring stare as he stands and allows Luffy to tug him out of the room.

* * *

The strawhats, Usopp decides, are some of the coolest people he's ever met.

Luffy is wild and free in every way possible, always smiling, bright as the sun in his seemingly eternal excitement. Zoro and Sanji bicker a lot, and both are honestly terrifying at times, but they each have a personality, and know how to carry the most interesting conversations. Nami is shrewd at times, withdrawn and sometimes mistrustful, but soon Usopp meets her friendly, cheerful side. She's incredibly intelligent when it comes to navigation and tactics, and most likely knows it, but doesn't flaunt her gifts. Chopper is eager to hear stories from Usopp – about how he's a great, widely known pirate, and about the eight thousand troops he commands – and is fun to spend time with, kind of like a younger brother. Franky is the first cyborg Usopp has ever met, and he certainly lives up to and exceeds his expectations. Brook tells great stories and plays great music, and being friends with a skeleton is both unusual and strangely exhilarating. Vivi, who insists that she hasn't joined but probably has, is diplomatic and logical, but caring and pleasant in her own way.

Altogether, they're all a lot of fun. Usopp, who's been wandering with no particular destination for years and years, decides that he would love to travel with the small band of pirates; that is, if they'll take him. Aside from an inexplicable talent with his slingshot, the teen hasn't got the strength nor fighting capability of the rest of the strawhat pirates (why they're called that, he has no idea, but has decided to roll with it). He just doesn't feel strong or unusual enough to be a part of their world. Everything about the group is weird and wonderful - something that Usopp isn't in any way.

Right now, Usopp is squeezed onto the end of a couch in Vivi's living room, being practically sat on by Chopper as he, Luffy, Sanji and Zoro all sit side-by-side. Across the room, Nami and Vivi are sitting in a large armchair together, and Franky and Brook are sitting on the other couch. Outside, the night is dark and still, the air tinged with the heavy scent of sea salt. Only a few lanterns on the table in the middle of them room serve as a source of light, but the room itself if warm, heated by the nine people all piled into it. The group are playing cards in four teams: Franky and Brook, Nami and Vivi, Sanji and Luffy, and Zoro, Usopp and Chopper.

"Cheat! That was cheating, bastard!"

"As if, dartbrow, you're just saying that to impress Vivi!"

"Oi! Bros, you might want to concentrate on the game!"

Chopper turns to look up at Usopp. "See?" he says quietly, "They do trust you."

"What makes you think that?" Usopp replies, before pressing himself closer to the arm of the sofa and Sanji and Zoro begin to fight, a laughing Luffy squashed between them.

"They wouldn't act like this in front of people they didn't trust. And Luffy wouldn't have asked you to join if he didn't know you're a good guy."

"Yeah, well, Luffy isn't exactly a genius."

Chopper tilts his head to the side in a manner very similar to that of the boy they're talking about. "He would know, I think," he whispers back, as across the room, Nami and Vivi burst into excited shouts.

"Team Skelebro, have you got any sixes?!" Nami calls, almost jumping out of her chair. Evidently, they've found a way to make that last match.

"Alas, Nami-san, I think Team Kaira Girls has won this one!" Brook practically sings, handing over two cards. Both girls whoop, slamming their last four cards down on the table.

"Congratulations, Nami-swan, Vivi-chwan!" Sanji calls enthusiastically, noodling out of his seat, metaphorical love hearts practically dancing around his head.

"Aww, I was betting on Team Sanlu!" Luffy crosses his arms with a pout, but doesn't look particularly upset about the result.

"You can't bet on your own team, Luffy!" replies Usopp, "If you could, I would have bet on team Chop-sopp!"

"I still wanted to call us 'Team Sword'," mutters Zoro, standing and stretching, clicking out the kinks in his spine.

Soon, the topic of discussion within the group dissolves into menial, meaningless conversation. As the group talk, three people speaking at once but somehow managing to carry a conversation, Ussop glances around at each of them. Where did they all come from? Luffy and Zoro have the complexion to be eastern, and Sanji's faint accent screams 'west'. Nami and Vivi are most likely from Kaira, what with the way they act when it comes to the village, but Chopper, Franky and Brook are inconclusive (maybe the south? Usopp has no idea).

"Yeah!" Luffy's saying, "Edgetown was bombed about four years ago!"

"Wait, that's not right…" Usopp suddenly chips in, drawing the gazes of strawhats. "That was only three years ago, right?"

"…No, I don't think so," Vivi replies, half-standing from her chair. "I think I've got the newspaper clipping around here somewhere from when I met Ace, hang on…"

She stands and walks out of the room, and it only takes a minute or so for her to return, holding a rectangular piece of newspaper. "Here. It says 'March 12th, four years ago. See?"

"No, that was March 12th, three years ago, right?"

Vivi holds the paper out for him. "'Earth year, 423'. That was four years and a few months ago."

"It's… It's only 426, right?" A jolt hits Usopp, the return of that dizzying feeling that he's waking up after a millennium of sleep. The rest of the strawhats stare at him, some in perplexion, others in concern. He stands, even though he doesn't know where he's going.

Nami stands and moves across the room slowly, as if he's a cornered animal. "It's May, 427, Usopp." She puts a hand on his arm from her place now standing beside him. "Are you saying it was a year ago when you had that mask put on you?"

Usopp opens his mouth to answer, then closes it again, before abruptly realising that the floor is slipping out from under him. Muted yells break out around him, fuzzy like they're coming from a broken radio, and the ceiling swings up above him like a dull brown kaleidoscope.

With that, the world dissolves into grey and Usopp faints on the spot.

* * *

 **You might have been able to tell but Teams 'Skelebro', 'Kaira Girls', 'Sanlu' and 'Chop-sopp' were heavily inspired. And I'm probably going to refer to them so much that you'll hate me in the future. But oh well – I like how this chapter came out! It's one of my favourites when it comes to revelations and, just FYI, you might want to check back through the chapters to see if you can spot a character who I consistently compared with a fox. There is one! And they're a very big part of the last arc.**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 24, Jun 13:**

 ** _Okay, so review... as promised. Zoro's story made me wanna scream, POOR Perona! and obviously Mihawk is THE DAD here. When Sanji came up, I really expected to find out more about his past and his link to Sabo, but I guess this is good enough, for now. And 'Strawhat' Luffy, hmmmm... 49... hmmm (see what I'm doing when I have THE biggest exam of the year tomorrow?Could it be related to the number of the Gifted one that started the Golden Age of Pirates? Was that one's number 49? (you said they were numbered at birth) And it remained in history like a bad omen or something. Like... when number 49 shows up again everything will go to hell! IdkMaybe Luffy is 49's reincarnation and Shanks knew.  
I'm a bit smug regarding my theory about Sabo and the traitor being close to the truth (please don't tell me Sabo IS the traitor)  
Anyway, I should probably go to sleep now, for 4 or 5 hours at least, before going to my death (aka exam) tomorrowI hope inspiration finds you soon!_**

 **Heyo, thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you're just as sad about Zoro's backstory as I am, it is indeed very cruel of me ;_; and yeah, the dad was obvious as hell wasn't he? As for Sanji… there's a lot to be revealed about the guy, and I dropped a few hints about him in this chapter. *covers own mouth so I stop blabbing spoilers***

 **Did your exam go well?! Fuck now im nervous for you T-T I hope it went okay! As for 49 – some of your ideas are pretty close, but you haven't got it yet. I'm sure you will, though! Nobody's completely guessed yet and that makes me feel powerful. And sabo isn't exactly 'close' to the traitor… YET. Can't say any more!**

 **Yes, get some sleep! and I hope your exam went well, ily!**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash:**

 ** _Oooooooh a nice(well, not the "nice" as in good memories "nice," but you get what I mean) pasts conversation  
No, I mean like: did you choose the number 49 randomly or did you actually do some thinking/research to result in that number?  
At least you got rest and I'm glad my advice helped you~_**

 **Heyo! Don't worry, I got your pm so it's all good. And I'm glad you liked the pasts! Yes, I was horrible to them ;_; and 49… I mean, it doesn't really have much meaning beyond the context of the story – my intention was to choose a completely irrelevant number – but it would be really cool to see if there's any historical context to go with it.**

 **Thank you for reviewing! Hopefully my pace will be back up soon :D**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 24 , Jun 13:**

 ** _So I'm close with the 49 theories and Roger seems very connected to it after this chapter.  
I loved learning more about their backstories, Zoro's especially you know he's one of my faves and thw little details with Chopper are precious.  
I've read something about Shanks in your replies, please let him see the reunion because I'm definitely NOT ready for what was said. Take your time writing if you're having trouble and remember you don't need to draw the scene if you don't have time._**

 **Hey friend!**

 **I'm so glad you liked the chapter! It seems to have been well received all round so my worries about it were for nothing :) Shanks,,,,,,damn, I'm really horrible to the characters ain't I? yeah, all I can say is that some people might not make it out of the explosion that's coming…**

 **Enough said about that! I'm struggling just to draw chapter covers rn, but I swear I'll get to it soon! Again, I'm really glad you're liking this and thank you very much for reviewing! Ily!**

* * *

 **7, Chapter 24, Jun 13:**

 ** _Omg your story makes so many feels. I really hope everyone gets what they want. Poor ace (and probably sabo) I hope they will be together again. I'm sure I'm wrong but all I can come up with so far is luffy and co are reincarnations from generation to generation ( 49 times?). Luffy is the man in brooks story who liberates the world over and over across lifetimes and when he dies he is reborn to fight the government. Fate draws him back to his friends and brothers so he can continue onwards for freedom. Lol I'm just guessing. And now I know I'm reading too far into it but 4913 Ooh scary unlucky number. (I'm sorry I just had a math midterm) that's cool tho. I like your story I can't wait to read more._**

 **Heya! I'm glad I'm giving you Emotions, that's what I'm here for and it's great to get feedback like this c': I hope they'll be back together soon but alas, that probably won't happen for a while since ace is off flying into the sun and sabo is absolutely FUCKED THE FUCK UP. *coughs* and as for the reincarnation idea – it's a really cool idea, and I would love to write this in hindsight, but sadly it's not what I had planned. But I do love it!**

 **Anyway, I'm so sorry about your maths midterm ;_; if it helps, I'm in the thick of my exams rn too so I totally feel for you. Thanks so much for reviewing, and I'm really glad that you like this!**

* * *

 **Kawaii Snowdrop, Chapter 24, Jun 13:**

 ** _Hmm, this whole shady 49 business has all of us acting like detectives XD. Judging by Brook being highly surprised (perhaps a tad incredulous?) that Luffy doesn't know what the number made me at first think that the boy himself was the young man in the story and that he just lost his memories somehow (which was a ridiculous thought since we actually witnessed his birth in the story and watched him grow up, silly me). However, the way the creepy notes the crew's been getting always end on a #49 reminds me strongly of a signature (don't judge me if I'm being slow, it's been a long day XD) so my guess is that Roger - because who else do you think of the second you mention "age of pirates"? - is alive, but with malicious intent? But if that's true that he's alive, then what the heck has he been doing all this time so that nobody knows who he is, unless the government covers it up well or something. And what is his connection to Luffy/ASL? Maybe he just wants his hat back who knows.  
On another note, dang you for doing an Oda: making a character promise they won't die to make future plot lines as painful as possible. I'm still not over Ace's death because of that ;-; (but keep up the good work all the same, I'm on the edge of my seat XD)_**

 **Yes, you're all detectives and I feel like a freakin evil overlord :') and as for your idea about luffy being the man in the story – it's what a lot of people have gone for, surprisingly, and while it's a really cool idea it's not exactly what I'd planned. As for roger… well, let's say roger had a gift. What would it be? Would it somehow enable him to leave behind some kind of legacy, or prophecy?**

 **Damn, I keep spoiling it all! Anyway, did I pull an oda? Or did I double bluff? Idk, you'll just have to read on and find out~**

 **Thanks so much for reviewing! Ilysm!**

* * *

 **ariririsu, Chapter 24, Jun 14:**

 ** _psst! i was ms. shove a cactus up my ass ! who didn't know she wasn't logged on whoops!  
great update as always! and writer's block is understandable, it's such a pain in the ass. us fans will be alright (i think, don't count on it)! i mean, it's not like we'll go up in arms, tAKE A BUNCH OF TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS AND HUNT YOU DOWN FOR NOT SATISFYING OUR NEEDS  
*cough* anywho! ;)  
i have a hunch that the traitor isn't someone that anyone knows because she's always in disguise.. honestly, i would say the traitor is Robin since you mentioned her earlier on, and i would think that Koala is somehow associated with her... but i mean, im just guessing D:  
alSO HOLY SHIT NAMI NOOOOO MY POOR BABY  
IM SO FUCKING MAD LUFFY BETTER LIVE UP TO THE 49 LEGACY AND BEAT EVERYONE'S WRINKLED ASSHOLES  
i actually thought, when you mentioned sexual assault, that it was going to be Perona who was assaulted and it's what caused her to die! but dAMN what a reveal of stories! and i swear ill draw something! i swear!_**

 **Heya! Ayy, you were the cactus anon? fuck yeah! I laughed at that review for hours! Thanks so much for leaving it, you're awesome! and as for you guys grabbing your pitchforks… should I be concerned? I feel like I should be concerned. Damnitt. *is slightly scared***

 ***lowers voice* don't tell any of the other reviewers, but I might be planning a little double-bluff when it comes to betrayal. I mean, you'll most likely see somebody betray the group and be like 'was that it? Wow anti-climax or what lol' but I'd just keep your eyes peeled after that happens… just in case**

 **AND YES, THOSE BACKSTORIES WERE ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC. I'M SO SORRY I FEEL LIKE I'VE COMMITED A GODDAMN CRIME. FORGIVE ME.**

 **Thank you very very much for offering to draw something, I really appreciate it! The lovely, incredibly Laludofan recently drew some stuff for this fic and I spent half an hour muttering 'holy crap' in an overjoyed voice, so that should tell you how happy art makes me :') thank you for reviewing, you're awesome!**

* * *

 **3D.2why chapter 24 . Jun 15**

 ** _bruh, this story confused the hell outta me until I realized it was a wHOLE OTHER WORLD! Can't lie I want all the strawhats together and if you read the manga SPOILER ALERT BUT I DNT FEEL BAD JK another person joins the crew so maybe you will or won't add THAT person. Koala is suspicious and Robin is MIA and I will never find any foredhadowing because I'm too... (dnt wannna insult myself) ... but anyway the stuff with #49 is too much and maybe Roger is a ghost, I really don't know but in the middle of the streets I'll probably be shouting a weird theory when I actually start to think of one. I kinda wanted to fight you when Ace was flying Pidge (coulda been Marco) and HE WAS RIGHT ABOVE LUFFY LIKE DAMMIT! Also that picture of Sabo and honestly, I don't know if they're gonna be in it (garp, dragon) and I'm kinda curious with the Sabo and Ace situation because I'm in the middle of making a twin story for them. I also hope the crew run into Law who has Luffy's Strawhat as well. Anyway my fingers are aching (I sprout more lies then Robin does hands) but have a good day!_**

 **Hey! Yeah, I included a note about it being au at the start of the first chapter but it's fine if you skipped it – I skip A/N's too tbh. And are you talking about jinbei? Welllll he may or may not turn up… he's so nice and badass and UGH I can't help but include my absolute fish uncle. As for roger being a ghost and 49 – I can't give away much, but him being a ghost certainly is an interesting concept. And please, shout that theory! I'll hear it! Hopefully**

 **Law! Yeah, they'll meet him soon enough. But I don't know if he'll be all you lot are expecting. Idk, you'll have to wait to find out ;)**

 **Rest your hands! Thank you for the long lovely review, ily!**

 **(PS I spent about five minutes laughing helplessly at your username. Brilliant. Incredible. Ily. )**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 24, 19h ago:**

 ** _late review is late because I'm tired and slow haaa i really loved this chapter! I've been curious about the details behind their various stories so its nice to a bit more of whats been going on... and LUFFY IS A TIMEBOMB? WHAT KINDA BS FORESHADOWING... aha i kid but seriously i love your mystery surrounding everything it makes the whole world more interesting cuz you just dont know whats going on. take your time on the chapters, watch some if your favourite show, take a break from writing for a few days and i promise you'll feel better . i found that going for long walks in nature really helped, along with the website write or die if you get REALLY stuck (if you put it on kamikaze mode it starts deleting your writing if you stop typing for more than a few seconds, so it forces you to just get anything down. also interesting because you have no idea where your scenes will take you when you're forced to write like that)_**

 **heyo friend!**

 **I'm really glad you liked the chapter, even if it was mostly just sad exposition lmao. AND YEAH THAT FORESHADOWING I KNOW RIGHT I'M SO EVIL**

 ***coughs* moving on, I'm also happy you like the mystery! And trust me, there are a lot of mysteries. A LOT. be prepared for revelations, revolutions and reunions left right and centre all through sabo's arc.**

 **Thanks so much for reviewing, I'll try to take your advice! You're the best :D**

 **(PS: OH CHRIST I JUST TRIED 'WRITE OR DIE' KAMIKAZE MODE AND HOLY FUCK. IT'S AMAZING BUT REALLY SCARY. I DON'T KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT. FUCK)**

 **(PPS: i've been keeping up Control, and i'm loving every word. one of the best OP fics I've ever read without a doubt, seriously. 10/10. i love you and your reviews and especially your writing)**


	26. 2-10 - History

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **this is the quickest chapter I've written in a while! I hope you like it, and the revelations, reunions and rebellions it includes! (damn, that should be this fic's catchphrase. or one piece's catchphrase.)**

* * *

 **Chapter 26 – History**

* * *

Three days after Usopp's little fainting incident and the havoc that followed it, the Strawhats decide that it's finally time to strike out onto the wide, open ocean yet again. Vivi has a lot of thinking to do as the day approaches, and though a part of her yearns to follow the Strawhat Pirates to freedom in the wilds of the north, another part of her knows, deep down, that she can't abandon Kaira. After everything the little village has gone through, her people are tough and rough around the edges and her vulnerability rises with every passing day. The east is mostly a wasteland, and there's nothing left there for the government to bomb out. Soon, they'll move on to take the north and, evidently, Kaira. Now, Vivi's home is in even more peril than ever before.

When Vivi finally bucks up the courage to tell the strawhats this, their reactions are mixed to say the least. Nami doesn't look happy by any means - on the contrary, she looks like she's about to protest - but something in her expression tells Vivi that really, she'd been expecting it all along. Zoro doesn't look like he cares very much, but Vivi can tell that he probably does; Zoro's never been the type to manifest his emotions very well. Sanji makes a show about it, noodling around her, wrapping Vivi in adoring words and declarations of undying love. Franky and Brook both look put out, the former trying and failing to persuade her to come, the latter shaking her hand and telling her that it was good to meet her. Chopper doesn't let go of her leg for half an hour after she tells them. Even Luffy, cheerful and optimistic as he is, looks forlorn at the revelation.

"But it's not your responsibility to protect this place!" he whines, petulant, acting like the fifteen-year old he really is. "There are adults 'n stuff. They can take care of it, so come and be free with us!"

"I know, Luffy-san, but this place has been through a lot, and it's in a lot of danger right now," Vivi tries. "I can't just leave it. But I'm sure I'll see all of you soon enough!"

Usopp, still somewhat subdued after the incident a few days ago, says, "Kohza could take care of this place for you! He's strong, right?"

"Yeah, well, not as strong as Vivi is," Nami says, still holding her girlfriend's hand. "I get why you want to stay, Vivi, but that doesn't mean I like it. When'll we see each other again?"

"Soon enough!" Vivi says hurriedly, even though she knows that it isn't really true. "I promise, Nami. Now, go out and stop the world government, okay? Luffy wants you guys to be free, and for now, I'll stay free here."

Nami shoots her a dubious look and lowers her voice, as Luffy bounces off back to Merry with a whoop, closely followed by Usopp and Chopper. "You know what's happening, Vivi. Kaira might not make it out of this. _You_ might not make it out of this. Do you really think I could handle that?! Do you really think I want to read about this place being bombed in a newspaper?" She sighs, evidently recognising a lost cause. "Fine, I get it, you're not giving in. But please, Vi, just consider coming with us. Please?"

Vivi shakes her head again, more firm this time. "I can't abandon Kaira, Nami. Not for anything. But we will meet again, even if you don't believe that much."

"I don't..." Nami squirms, as if she's embarrassed to say what she's saying. "I don't even have your earing anymore," she mutters.

"We don't need some earing to tell us how to feel," Vivi replies, and with a small kiss on the cheek, she pushes the other girl lightly in the direction of the strawhats. "Go on. Shake the world, okay?"

Nami stares at Vivi for a minute, cheeks still stained with a red blush, before nodding and smiling slightly. "Aye, aye."

* * *

As the Strawhat Pirates approach Water 7, a city within the territory of the Revolutionary Army, Franky grows more and more restless. Are they going to remember him, or even accept him? What happened to the 'Franky Family', a group of boys that made up a childhood gang Franky used to lead? What happened to Tom, and Iceburg, and everybody else? It's been more years than the cyborg cares to count since he last went to his hometown, and though he doesn't want to admit it, a tiny part of him is scared that they might not even recognise him, or that they might blame him for leaving.

Luffy, of course, thinks his worries are the stupidest things he's ever heard. "They're your friends!" he says, sounding slightly indignant. "Why would they hate you? Friends are meant to love you and, y'know, protect you and stuff. They wouldn't hate you just for wanting to be free. Vivi doesn't hate Nami for leaving Kaira, and they're friends!

Franky shifts slightly uncomfortably, coughing, and he can hear Zoro snicker from a few feet away, by the mast. "I think they're more than friends, Luffy-bro..."

"They are?" Luffy tilts his head to the side, as if the mere idea of a relationship is alien to him - which, quite honestly, it probably is. "Huh. That's weird. Anyway - stop worrying! Okay?"

"Okay, okay, bro!" the cyborg laughs, even though deep down, his metal stomach is still churning. Franky himself has changed, too. When he left he was a young boy, a slip of a thing with big dreams. Now he's a man, grotesque and misshapen, made out of more metal than skin. He has three chins, for christ's sake! It's not like he looks even vaguely normal anymore.

Pushing those thoughts out of his head, Franky glances across the deck to where Nami and Usopp are watering three potter mikan trees, lined up against the railing, both looking slightly morose. Nami has been feeling homesick for the last couple of days since they left Kaira, missing both her town and Vivi, and something tells the blue-haired man that Usopp hasn't completely gotten over the revelation that he was mind controlled - by some weird mask, nonetheless - for a whole year. Franky can't imagine what that must feel like - waking up after a year of being apparently mind-controlled, with no idea where you are or what happened to you to get you there. It must be disconcerting and terrifying to say the very least.

"Hey, I think I see land!" Sanji calls from the crow's nest (Franky still has no idea how he got up there, but has decided not to ask), voice floating down to them over the crash of the sapphire-blue waves. The cook is, for some reason, not as eager to come to Water 7 as all the others. In fact, he's rather the opposite. Sanji's been trying for the last few days to convince the crew to skip over this particular island, arguing that it would be better not to waste time in getting to Revolutionary HQ. Most of the strawhats know that that isn't really the reason, but whatever the real reason is, he doesn't seem eager to divulge it.

Franky walks towards the ship's railing, leaning on it and squinting across the vast ocean. And there it is. Merely a speck on the wide horizon, Water 7 seems almost lit up by the gleaming, lilting waters that surround it. The man feels his breath leave him in a rush, all of his worried flying away like birds on the wind, breeze pushing through his hair and clothes as he stares, utterly dumbfounded, at his home as it grows closer and closer with every second. Water skims along the sides of the Merry Go, clear and bright, and a strange sense of adrenaline fills Franky like a drug.

At his side, Luffy whoops and hops up onto the railing, balancing precariously. Even Usopp's face fills with wonder, and he drops his watering can in favour of running over to wrestle his captain off the railing along with Chopper as he hangs suspended over the sea. Sanji slips down from the crow's nest, lighting a cigarrette deftly with one hand, and even Zoro stands from his place against the mast with an almost excited grin. It's always like this whenever they approach land - it's as if time stops with the strawhats, as they anticipate the rush of a new adventure, a new brand of freedom to explore. Only this time, the north is approaching thick and fast and with it, the Revolution. The Revolution and, indeed, Franky's hometown.

And suddenly, the golden moment breaks with a chill of horror.

A soft roaring begins far overhead, coming from the same direction the strawhats did but at a much faster pace. Franky and Luffy both look up at the same time, ears and instincts keen, and the former almost blanches in horror; for there, screaming through the sky above them, is a plane. An exceedingly familiar plane, to be precise. Blue and white in colour, a blur through the clouds, it streaks through the skies like some bizarre mockery of the pale blue ocean beneath it. And it hits Franky like a bullet to the gut - the reason the plane is here, and what it intends to do.

Vivi's warning rings in his head - 'They're out of things to destroy in the west, so I wouldn't be surprised if they moved on to revolutionary territory soon enough. The Eastern Terror is ending'.

His own personal brand of terror, quick and hot across his skin, floods through Franky. Half of him wants to jump into the ocean, to somehow reach the island in time to- to do what? Stop the bomb? There's nothing he can do. Right now, the only thing the ex-mut finds himself doing is staring in blatant horror at the marine bomber plane as it overtakes the Merry Go and darts through the clouds in the direction of Water 7.

Around him, Franky notices absently that the ship is a flurry of activity - Luffy is calling out garbled orders, trying to act like he's in his element when he's really just a fifteen-year old, Zoro is cursing up a storm, Nami is calling for them to turn the ship around. As if he can't do anything else, Franky's brain jumps to something he read about the bombing of islands; the water around them heats up and the destruction of larger islands, using subsequently larger bombs, can even cause tsunamis. And nobody survives.

 _And nobody survives._

Something dark and cone-shaped drops from the underbelly of the metal beast, and Franky darts forward, no idea where he's going, almost expecting time itself to slow at he feels his face break out in blank horror. Every cell in his mechanical body feels like it's about to explode with the tension running through his veins, every hair on his head electrified. The bomb falls quickly, a dark blur, and disappears into the thick jungle of buildings.

It takes longer than Franky expected to blow. There's a terrible, frozen space of time between the impact of the bomb and the explosion; but when the moment ends, ubruptly and with a chill of raw terror, light explodes from Water 7 as if the heavens themselves are opening up. The sound, light and heat of a thousand cracks of lightening consume the world for a moment, pure and terrible in their raw reality, and the strawhats yell and scream out in eerie harmony as a wave of heat and pure energy expands from the island in every direction.

Merry rocks unsteadily, and the crew have to cling onto the railings and mast just to stay on. Every movement Franky makes feels sluggish, like he's just run a marathon. Blood pounds through his ears like the blasts of a cannon.

When the patches of darkness finally melt from his vision, the cyborg stares across the water and takes in the carnage that seems to have replaced Water 7.

Zoro wipes sweat off his forehead, shooting a glance across the deck, across the water. The sky over Franky's hometown is dark with smoke, and flames seem to lick the very sky. Water 7 is ablaze, and as Zoro watches, he can see the silhouette of a building crumble within the raging fire, black against the reds and golds of fire. Near the figurehead, Nami is watching the blaze - but something in her eyes is distant, and the swordsman can tell that she isn't really watching it at all. Her mind is far away, watching with horror as another island burns, young and clinging to a lifeboat.

Franky's eyes haven't moved from the island either, and his face is by far the worst. Full of shock and mortification, pure horror at the carnage laid out just across the sea, the cyborg has tears in his eyes. His monstrous forearms hang loose at his sides, fists clenched and quivering with tension. Suddenly, Franky doesn't seem so large anymore. He seems very, very small.

Luffy decides to take control of the situation, for once taking his place as captain, even though his eyes are wide and horrified. "Let's turn around, in case they drop another one!" he bellows. Even as he says it, another harsh wave sends Merry lurching to the side, and something in the bowels of the ship cracks ominously. Opposite the fire consuming Water 7, the sun is starting to sink through the sky almost too rapidly, and soon it'll create yet another blaze on the horizon.

"Aye, aye!" Zoro calls, and as he runs to take the wheel, he yells to Franky, "Oi, Franky! You okay?" The man doesn't answer him - he doesn't even seem to be processing anything - and Zoro and Luffy exchange furtive looks. Even Sanji seems shell-shocked, even though something on his face as he looks at the fire is similar to Nami's; something close to regret, or a strange kind of distant grief. Brook and Sanji work together to open the sails, turning them to catch the wind, and together, Zoro, Luffy, Chopper, Sanji and Brook manage to turn the ship around and away from Water 7.

Tears are now slipping down Franky's face, hot and fast. Even though they've turned the ship around he still stares in the same direction, off the port side of the ship, watering eyes now locked on the sun instead of on his home island. His face is a twisted mixture of grief and anger and pure shock, as if he's waiting to wake up, willing this all to be some grotesque dream.

The heat is intense even this far away from Water 7, and even from the centre of the ship, Zoro can feel flecks of boiling water spit from the water right onto his exposed face and arms. From the figurehead, Luffy gives a yell as a wave crests and a bullet of boiling water flies out of the water and lands on his cheek, sizzling horribly. Sanji rushes over, closely followed by Chopper, and Zoro turns his face away as his friend is worked on in hopes of salvaging some of the burnt flesh.

"Hey!" Nami calls suddenly, grabbing all of their attention even over the havoc. "Look, there's somebody in the water!"

* * *

Whitebeard slams the handle of his bisento down on the floor of the meeting room hard, silencing the arguing commanders before they can start to scream at each other. On one side, Thatch sits down with a quiet growl, as if he would have preferred to carry on rowing. There are dark circles under his eyes, and lines of stress across his forehead. On the other side of the table, Izo crosses his arms and takes his seat, scowling, beautiful face twisted into a frown.

"Commanders," Newgate rumbles. "I know this is upsetting news, but we need to keep our heads."

"That's what I was trying to tell him!" Thatch shoots back, still fired up, glaring daggers at the man who is – or used to be – one of his best friends. Izo glares right back. "If Marco was here, he would defend me too!"

"And Marco's the height of reason right now?" sneers Izo, watching the chef flinch at his scalding tone. "If you're not willing to admit that desperate times call for desperate measures, _Thatch,_ maybe you should go back and visit him at the infirmary; and don't come back."

"Izo!" This time, Whitebeard users a firmer, more stern tone. The sixteenth-division commander's mouth snaps closed, though he doesn't stop glaring at the table. "As I was trying to say – we need to keep our heads and think about this logically. 'Fight fire with fire' isn't always the answer."

"But we can't just let them bomb us into oblivion!" Jozu speaks up, though not as heatedly as Izo and Thatch did. "We have to do _something_ , Oyaji."

"Did I say we're doing nothing?" replies Whitebeard sharply, and Jozu shuts his mouth. "Trust me when I say that we are going to retaliate – but engaging in total war tactics would just waste valuable resources-"

"And valuable lives!"

"-Yes, Thatch, and valuable lives."

"Southern lives, you mean!" speaks up somebody else with malice in their voice, and suddenly the argument restarts all over again. This time, the leader of the Revolutionary Army has to slam down his weapon three times in order to gain everybody's attention, and most of the gazes fixed on him are heated and indignant.

"Yes, losing Water 7 wasn't a good sign. But we are trying to get people out, and there may be survivors. Even if this bombing does signify the start of the – what did you call it, Curiel, 'Northern Terror'? – we can't jump to drastic measures and start blowing up southern cities recklessly."

"So what do you propose we do?" Scarlet asks from her place, having not said much throughout the debate. Her head is down, hair the colour of raspberries only recently cut so that it rests just above her shoulders. Like Thatch, she looks worn-down and tired.

"We employ more bombers, send out more fleets to camp out in the south. With every bomb they drop on our cities, we drop ten on their army bases. We use the twelfth and second divisions – our intelligence and spy divisions – to find out where they're storing their bombs, their labs. We override them too. But under no circumstances-" Whitebeard raises his head to look them all in the eye in turn, letting the silence hang. "Under no circumstances are we to bomb their cities just for the sake of killing as many as we can. If we carry on creating 'Terrors', it's only a matter of time before the world itself becomes a Terror."

"But Oyaji!"

Thatch leans back with a small smirk, his argument having won the debate, and soon enough the meeting breaks up. Scarlet and the twelfth-division commander, a man with reddish eyes and an almost permanent scowl, hurry off together with their heads bowed, discussing tactics. Jozu nods in consent to his father's plan and Izo eventually concedes too, although he doesn't exactly look happy about it. Soon, only Thatch and Whitebeard remain, the former staring at the table.

"Son?" Whitebeard asks, before sighing, seeming to understand what's bothering him. "Worried about Marco again?"

"I'm-" Thatch starts, before sighing, realising that it would most likely be useless to try to lie to his father. "Yeah. And Ace, obviously, but who isn't?"

"Yes, what we've been hearing about our wayward commander hasn't been too reassuring," Newgate states. "But wouldn't he want you to believe in him? To trust him not to mess this up?"

"Well, yeah, but- I mean, look what we last heard! What the hell is he even thinking?! Does he seriously think _Garp_ 's going to help him?!"

Whitebeard hums contemplatively. "He wouldn't meet up with Garp if he didn't have good reason. And if they do manage to capture him, it'll hardly be a quite execution. We will get him back." Seeing that the fourth-division commander still looks troubled, the man laughs softly and reaches down to mess up his pompadour. "That kid was born to be free, Thatch, have a little more faith in that." The older of the two men yawns and stretches, before gently but firmly shoving Thatch towards the door with one massive hand. "Now go on, make up with the other commanders."

Shooting an uncertain look over his shoulder, Thatch nods and moves towards the exit. When the door closes softly behind him, Whitebeard seems to deflate, and reaches into the pocket of his loose pants to pull out a square of white paper.

On it, the boy with blonde hair is still glassy-eyed, clothes torn, the only real colour in the photo appearing to be the red of his blood. Flies still track trails of infection through his wounds. The blue of his eyes is still dulled by the red of a camera flash. And on the back of the photo, the number 49 still winks up at Whitebeard like some kind of signature.

Sighing heavily, Whitebeard says under his breath, "Just what kind of legacy did you leave for us, Roger?"

Turning the photo back over, he has to squint to make out a small symbol in the corner of the photo, miniscule and as red as the blonde boy's blood. A fox, painted in abstract, eyes seeming to glint even as he holds the paper still.

"And what," Newgate murmurs quietly, "Does it have to do with Lucifer?"

* * *

She comes to consciousness slowly. She can feel her hair splayed out around her, and her mouth is dry from dehydration. A tell-tale tickle in the back of her throat tells her immediately that she's suffering from mild smoke inhalation, and the heaviness of her eyelids makes it obvious that she's been asleep – or, indeed, unconscious – for at least twelve hours. Staying perfectly still, not letting an eyelid or a finger twitch and keeping her breathing even, she scans her memory for any scrap of information.

Who is she? Nothing seems to come to mind. How old is she? Again, no answer seems to come to the woman. She can guess that she's most likely an adult. There's a dull, fuzzy sting licking its way up her back, between her shoulder blades, over her neck and into her hairline, like a tendril of fire. Something inside her mind supplies one fact and she clings to it; somebody's given her painkillers. What painkillers actually are is a bit more of a struggle to find out, but after a lot of sorting through random scraps of worthless information, she manages to find it.

If she's been given painkillers and is lying on a soft bed, and there are no loud noises or screams, maybe this is a Safe place. There are two types of place in her world – Safe and Killer. Nothing rests in the no man's land. Something tells the woman that not many places are Safe. It feels like the whole world is a Killer place, though she doesn't quite know why. _Whoever I am,_ the woman finds herself thinking, _I'm mistrustful. Do I have reason to be?_

Somewhere to her left a door opens, and going against her instincts, the woman opens her eyes and allows herself a small movement, shifting under the blankets. The ceiling above her, blurred with fatigue through her heavy eyelids, is wooden and lit by natural light. Every movement shoots more pain through her back, as if her entire spine is alight with it. One of her eyes is obscured by bandages.

Footsteps pad around the bed and she tenses, unsure as to whether she should fight or play dead, instincts usually triggered by Killer places flaring to life inside her. However, before her impossibly slow brain can catch up, a face appears above her own with scruffy black hair, curious and slightly hopeful somehow. Her dark pupils meet his own chocolate-brown ones.

"You're awake!" The bed creaks and dips as he climbs onto it, inserting himself further into her line of sight. With a grin, he asks, "Do you remember me? It's Luffy."

"…Luffy?" Her tongue feels hot and useless in her mouth, refusing to obey her. Her voice is a tad deep, and noticeably rich. "…What…?"

"Yeah! I know, weird right? It's been a while!" Seeming to notice that the woman's mind hasn't quite caught up ( _showing signs of a concussion_ , she notes subconsciously), Luffy raises an eyebrow, curious, before his youthful face seems to deflate. "Do you not remember me, Robin?"

* * *

 **Revelation after revelation in this chapter! Yes, I wonder if any of you know what I mean by 'Lucfer'? Oh, I'm sorry, I meant 'Lucifer'. That's Totally what I meant. *coughs suspiciously***

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! And of course that little peak into the lives of the WBs without Ace. I wonder what happened to Marco?**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 25, 16h ago:**

 ** _Wow I didn't see this coming at all but at least we've got Usopp now, and since I'll finally have time I can check back to reread like your AN suggested. I loved seeing Vivi interacting with the rest of them.  
Yeah you're mean to the characters but thanks for the warning, I'll start preparing for the explosion (I wonder if it's literal) *hugs*_**

 **Heya! *hugs* I'd suggest playing close attention to the beginning of Chapter 13, if you're re-reading. Shan't say anymore! Anyway, I'm glad you liked Vivi! I love her too. Let's hope she doesn't die.**

 **Moving on! The explosion… well, it may be. Idk. Maybe the traitor has something to do with explosives~**

 ***hugs you tight* thank you for reviewing!**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 25, 11h ago:**

 ** _The horrid realisation about Usopp  
You made him suffer a bit at the end XD  
Even when your pace gets back, don't hesitate to take a break when your body needs it  
Update~_**

 **Yeaaah, I was pretty mean to him, huh? Anyway, thank you for reviewing! I'll take a break if I need it, promise! *hugs***

 **PS: just thought you should know: I refer to you as 'update trash' cause of the way you tagline your reviews and your username, and I don't know why that's so funny to me but it is. Talk again soon!**

* * *

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 24, 10h ago:  
** ** _Making Perona Zoro's sister is a bold move. I know a lot of people ship them together, but I've always seen them as siblings as well. It's nice to know I'm not the only one._**

 **Heyo! Yeah, in retrospect it was a bit of an unusual move, huh? Well, I guess I don't particularly ship them romantically. And I couldn't really find a place to fit her into the story, so she kinda had to die.**

 **Chapter 23, 11h ago:  
** ** _SHANKS!_**

 **I'm glad you're happy to see Shanks! I was happy to write him! tbh, I feel bad for the guy after all his sons have gone through.**

 **Chapter 25, 10h ago:  
** ** _And my favorite sharp shooter has finally shown up!_**

 **Yep, here's usopp! He's one of my faves too tbh. Though I do feel bad for him in this au.**

 **Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 25, 10h ago:**

 ** _OMG! I literally dreamt of a new chapter and... surprise! I wake up only to see the notification! Great timingMy exam went well, thx for worrying, and I slept like... a full day after. I got a full mark through a combination of sheer damn luck and knowledge (and I have 7 more to go, imagine that). All in all, I can't wait to have the time to write again.  
Anyway, so Sanji is an ex soldier, maybe same unit as Usopp? A hand-to-hand expert and a sniper would make a badass team. Obviously they know each other and Sanji is keeping his mouth shut until Usopp will remember on his own (had he been brainwashed for a year or something?).  
It's good to see that the Strawhats aren't intimidated by the anonymous death threat and I wonder who the culprit might be. I can't help but think that this scenario looks close to the Water7 arc in cannon(with the masks and all). So I can only assume it's something about CP9 and Robin getting closer.  
As for my #49 theories, I'll resume thinking about it when my brain decides to start working againglad I'm close though!  
Thanks for another amazing chapter and take care of yourself! See you with the next chapter_**

 **Okay but hearing you're dreaming about chapters is freaking awESOME THANK YOU *coughs* moving on! I'm glad you're exam went well, full marks is incredible! Well done! You probably need sleep, huh? Well, good luck with the other 7 T-T I feel so bad for you. And you write? Nice! I'll check out your ACC after I post this!**

 **About Sanji and Usopp – I wouldn't quite say they know each other personally, but something about usopp is freaking Sanji out. What, you ask? Well, you'll just have to find out~ and of course the strawhats aren't afraid! These guys fear nothing and I love them so very much.**

 **Thank you for reviewing, take care of yourself too! And make sure you get enough sleep! Talk soon! *hugs***

* * *

 **3D.2why, Chapter 25, 5h ago:**

 ** _This was a pretty interesting chapter and with how messed up this world was, I wasn't surprised that Usopp wasn't sprouting lies, and I am VERY curious if he remembers Ace. I don't even know what happened to him (maybe another gift user, Jango the guy with the black-cats I think is called or something) and lord I just love stories like yours that when you uncover one mystery seventeen thousand other ones pop out of nowhere and I'm just left there gaping like what...  
LONG STORY SHORT it's been a while since I've seen a fic like yours and I'm really in love with it! (Also I can't help but feel guilty that I'm counting the days for Sabo's part because he rlly is mysterious)._**

 **Hey! Does usopp remember ace? Idk, you'll just have to read on to find out~ and I'm really really glad you're liking the fic! I wasn't sure whether a mystery-themed fic would go down well in this fandom, but apparently it did! Hell yeah!**

 **Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 25 . 5h ago:**

 ** _Okay I'm gonna review chap 24 and 25 (sorry I'm late..)  
OOoOooH bonus chapter awesome *-* I was really looking forward the revelation of Zoro's past and well I was not disappointed :D his story is heart-wrenching and so beautiful at the same time -w- it only left me wondering what colour was the mother's hair xD  
My x'c poor Nami and Haley..I wanna hug them tell them that I love them and that everything's all right and get a kiss too _  
CARROOOOOOT whyy TnT *hugs Chopper close* thankfully we still have one furry little ball of kawainess x'3  
Wow. So.. So much info at once. Hafta make a theory.  
So. There's this #49 guy, he starts the golden age of piracy. And then there's the Strawhat guy who wants to overthrow the government. These two are different people, right ?  
I think there's some kind of prophecy about Strawhat's..heir. Or something like that. And if Strawhat posessed, say, the fire gift, the prophecy could apply to either Ace, Sab, or Lu as he owns the strawhat.  
For some reason, the 49 people don't want that prophecy to happen so they're tracking down the three of them.  
(I can already hear you laughing, this is going to be so ridiculous when we find out the truth T-T)  
Which leads me to my other theory (stop laughing /)  
I think Law is the traitor character, cause there are several elements and clues that kind assemble :  
\- if my 1st theory has some truth in it, there has to be someone who informed the 49 people asl were..close. Someone who knew Lu had the Strawhat, and Ace had this mark.  
-The whole base 49 buisness has something to do with Corazon AND with Sabo's state. Corazon - Law and #49 so yeah I'm confused and I don't have a clue as to what happened but I believe Tora-o has smth to do with it. And if he sees Sabo's mark then he's figured out the 3 bros.  
-You said the traitor would be introduced towards the end of Lu's arc and apparently Law is to show up pretty soon.  
-The fact that he could easily meet Sab in his arc (patch him up too maybe) when the traitor is "not close..YET" to him.  
-Also, you said something like ''I don't know if he's going to be what you're expecting" so..  
Anyway just smth I thought of.  
I feel so stupid right now, actually wondering who the hell was the fox mask guy when the chapter's title was "The Sniper" -_-'  
Wasn't the inn squad 4 slept in named Frox and Frog or something ? *rereads* oh wait Haley's the fox isn't she ? Does that make her the traitor ?  
I loved the cards scene. And the teams names. And everything about this chap. And you TwT  
Til next tiime~_**

 **Wowwwwee that's a long review. Hi! I'm really glad you liked the bonus chapter and their pasts. Zoro! Nami! Haley! Feelings! Yes yes I know ;_; and yeah, poor carrot! Shes so sweet and cute I love her character tbh. yeah, thank god for chopper!**

 **Okay *stifles a laugh* I wont say anything about your theories accept:**

 **\- are you sure 49 guy and pirate guy aren't the same person?  
\- one of your theories is so bang on indcredibly accurate that I literally applauded you for pulling all the pieces together perfectly. Well done!  
\- the other is so utterly ridiculous that I burst out laughing in class reading it **

**Can you guess which one was which? And thank you so much, ily too! Ily a lot!**

 **Talk again! *hugs***


	27. 2-11 - In the Eyes of an Outsider

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

* * *

 **Chapter 27 – In the Eyes of an Outsider**

* * *

Even though Nami feels like she shouldn't trust this woman, as soon as she hears the conversation between her and Luffy, she honestly can't help it. Hovering just outside of the low infirmary door, the thief presses her ear to the wood and listens intently, with a silence learnt only through years of making her keep through stealth and cunning. She can just about make out their words.

"Do you not remember me, Robin?"

When they fished the woman out of the ocean last night, Chopper had his work cut out for him just to keep her alive. Badly burnt and unconscious, the only thing that had kept her afloat was a piece of driftwood that she just barely managed to cling onto. Luffy, the second he saw her face, proclaimed that he knew her, and that they needed to keep this woman alive at all costs. Despite this, even with all the other strawhats trying to egg him into telling them just how he knew her, Luffy kept his mouth shut about their history together. And now, apparently, the woman is awake. And her name is Robin.

"I don't- I-" She speaks with a naturally soft voice, and there's an undertone of scratchiness to it. It's been eighteen hours since they fished her out of the boiling waters – unconsciousness for so long warrants the roughness of her tone. "I'm sorry, Luffy-kun, I don't."

"Oh," Luffy's voice says, disappointed. Nami's heart clenches – he sounds like something he's been waiting for for years has been snatched from his grasp. Maybe it has. "Well... What do you remember?" the young captain tries. Nami can hear the bed shifting.

"I don't think... I don't think I can remember anything, Luffy-kun," Robin stutters. Nami's eyes grow wide. Chopper did mention a possibility of brain damage, what with the smoke inhalation and the signs of impact to her head, but this...

"You don't remember anything?" Luffy asks, somewhere between curious and awed, though there's still a little disappointment in his voice. "Not even how you got on Water 7?"

"Water 7?" There's a little recognition in her voice this time. "I didn't know I was anywhere near there. I didn't- I don't-"

Nami can hear the panic rising in her voice, something so terrified that it would be impossible to fake, and has to hold herself back from going in there to make sure she's alright. Even if Robin is a stranger, it's hard not to sympathise with her.

"So you're an am-ne-sa-ic?" Luffy tries to say, botching the pronunciation entirely.

"I-" Robin sniffs, and Nami can see her in her mind's eye, pulling herself together. "Yes, that's how it would seem, Luffy-kun."

"It's not Luffy-kun, it's just Luffy!"

"Okay, Luffy-kun."

Awkward silence reigns for a second, and Nami pictures Luffy fiddling with the end of his shirt, unsure as to what to say. Robin coughs before asking, in a voice surprising composed, "Can you tell me about how you know me, please? I can assume that my name is Robin, and I know a little general knowledge I think, but I must admit this is a little disconcerting."

"Sure! I'm Luffy, and I'm a pirate captain and we're in the north-east, near Water 7. And your name is Robin, and you used to be in the navy but you betrayed them to give me food when they were torturing me and you said you wanted to see me again!"

Outside of the door, Nami has to put a hand over her mouth just to muffle her gasp. From inside, she can hear Robin make a small, curious noise. "If I'm a naval officer – something I find unlikely – do you have any idea why I'm in the north, Luffy-kun? If I'm correct, most marines are stationed in the south."

"I don't know that either!" Luffy laughs, before saying in a slightly more serious tone, "You don't have to talk like that, you know."

"Like what?" Robin replies, and this time her voice is wary, as if she's expecting the young pirate to lash out. Nami presses closer to the door still, curiosity filling her.

"Y'know. Like you're a robot, or something. We're friends!"

Nami means to listen for longer but before she can, somebody hisses her name from the other side of the corridor leading to the infirmary. "Nami! Psst, come here!"

She glances up. Zoro and Usopp are standing near the door that leads onto the deck, the former stony-faced, the latter looking a little curious. Shooting one last unsure look at the door, the thief darts up the corridor on silent feet and follows her two crewmates out onto the deck. Immediately, as soon as the door shuts behind her, Nami finds herself surrounded by all the other strawhats, all looking eager and curious in equal measure.

"What're they talking about?!" Sanji asks first, surprisingly urgent, before coughing. "Sorry, Nami-swan, that was-"

"Ah, shut it, love-cook. What did they say?!"

Before Sanji can make his inevitable angry retort, Nami says, "Well, I think Chopper might have his work cut out for him. She's an amnesiac. Luffy woke her and asked a bunch of questions, but she didn't remember anything, not even how she got to Water 7 in the first place. Apparently," Nami lowers her voice, "She used to be in the navy. Do you two know anything about Luffy being tortured?" she asks Zoro and Sanji, and they both exchange startled looks.

"I know that he went through some really bad stuff with experimentation before he joined our base, but he's never mentioned being tortured," Sanji says, looking a little sick at the thought.

"…But, it does make sense," Zoro finishes, brow furrowed. "He was completely traumatized when he first joined us, barely able to sleep without nightmares. It took him years to fully get over it."

Nami grimaces slightly. "Well apparently she snuck him food when they were holding him captive. They haven't met since then, but he says she told him she would like to meet him again."

Chopper opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, the door behind Nami swings open. Stepping back, the strawhats watch as Luffy steps out, supporting Robin, who is leaning on him heavily. Swathed in bandages, she glances around blearily, eyes clouded with the pain of moving. She takes in each of the strawhats with strangely calculative eyes, mapping each out carefully, but not in a way that makes Nami feel uncomfortable. It's almost like it's an automatic procedure, like she's been doing it for so long that anything else feels alien.

"Robin! You shouldn't be out of bed; your burns are still healing!" Jumping up, Chopper attempts to lead the woman back towards the infirmary but she seems too startled by the crew to really notice him. In her defence, all of them look quite unusual – from the green of Zoro's hair to the pale white of Brook's bones, some are eyesores and some are enigmas, but none look like stereotypical pirates.

"Oh yeah, sorry Chopper!" Luffy laughs, looking unbothered and turning to help Robin back to the infirmary. Robin says nothing, but does peer over her shoulder as she's led back into the bowels of the ship, too out of it to process much with glassy eyes.

Nami doesn't doubt for a second, somehow, that Robin wasn't lying when she said she lost her memories. Something about that blank look, mixed with an almost forlorn confusion, makes it evident that Robin doesn't have a clue what's going on, and doesn't know where to start looking in order to find out.

* * *

 _"Robin, there's something I need to tell you."_

 _The voice cuts through to the child's consciousness like a knife, and Robin flinches in her seat, looking up at her mother with wide eyes. The woman has her unusual eyes, the thousands of colours that make up a stormy sea rolled into the iris, but her hair is white and tied into a sloppy ponytail. She looks harried, and something about her face makes it seem like she's in the midst of making a tough decision._

 _"Y-Yes?" Robin replies, closing her book quickly. She doesn't know why she's so scared. Her mother isn't one of_ _ **them**_ _. They're far, far away. But something inside her can't let it go._

 _"I have to leave soon. The people who took you-" Her mother's voice shakes violently, and her lip quivers, but her brow stays set and firm. "The people who took you aren't good people, Robin. And they don't care whether you're a child or not. They care that you're my daughter, and that I'm a criminal. So I have to leave you, Robin. You need to start a new life."_

 _Robin is young. She's small, and there are bandages running up her arms and legs. Her mother means safety – so why is safety going away? "You're a criminal?" she finds herself asking, voice shaking just as much as her mother's, eyes starting to sting with the beginnings of juvenile tears. "Why can't you take me with you?"_

 _"Robin, listen to me." Outside their tiny cabin, the north wind howls, as if it's scheming to pull her mother away. Olvia's hands are hot on Robin's shoulders. "There are people who want to cover up history. They don't want the world to know that there's freedom somewhere out there. They want to bury us, Robin – people with a Mark like yours. But we can't be tamed. They can bury us, but you can't forget one thing; we're seeds. Robin, I_ _ **need**_ _you to live."_

 _"Mom, you're scaring me," Robin says, feeling the widening of her own eyes, feeling her own spine as shivers begin to wrack it. She can hear the sob building in her throat._

 _"Robin…" Olvia stares into her daughter's eyes with a strange intensity, before pressing something into her hand harshly. Looking down through tear-blurred eyes, the child can make out a small, black notebook in her palm. She looks back up, meeting her mother's eyes for what feels like the very last time. "You need to run. I just want you to do two things for me, Robin. Somewhere in the North is your half-sister. She's training to become a revolutionary, just like her father. I want you to find her and stick with her, okay? She'll protect you. The revolutionaries will protect you."_

 _"Please stop, please don't leave…!"_

 _Mom seems almost frenzied now, falling into some kind of trance. "The other thing I want you to always remember, Robin, is that notebook. Never let it out of your sight. Someday, you'll understand, but now isn't the time. Not yet. I need you to keep that notebook with you until the world is ready to learn about what it holds. Bring it to the Revolutionary Army. The rebellion will know what to do with you, Robin."_

 _"Why do you keep saying my name? And why are you leaving?! Please don't leave, what if_ _ **they**_ _get me?!" Robin almost gasps, clinging to her mother's hand with all her might, only to get shaken off. The black notebook feels like a ten tonne weight over her shoulders. Helpless, standing in the middle of the dark and barren cabin, Robin watches as her mother walks towards the door, pulling her hood up and shaking snow off her boots with every step. Outside, the world is cold and loud._

 _She reaches the door, and turns to look over her shoulder, face thrown into sharp relief by shadows. "We will meet again, Robin. But just find your sister. Find your sister, and never, ever lose that notebook."_

 _A crack of thunder rumbles outside and Robin gives a small scream, just as a window smashes in the back of the house. They're coming. They're coming for her. The bandages covering her distort and warp as lightening rips through the air. Bangs and crashes, so loud that Robin feels like her ear drums are going to pop, echo through the cabin._

 _At the door, Olvia gives Robin one last hard look and turns, disappearing into the darkness. Robin goes to follow, tripping over her own feet, shaking and sobbing. Outside the windows, the world seems to distort and break, Robin's vision tearing down the middle. Suddenly, everything explodes into harsh, white diagonals, and-_

Robin wakes up.

Lurching up in bed, the woman takes harsh, quick breaths, still half convinced that she's wrapped up in a nightmare. Scraps of information fly through her head. Some form of memory, no matter how vague, remains. _I need to catalogue it_ , the logical part of her brain says, and Robin agrees. Her bandaged eye aches with the cold of the room.

Standing, the amnesiac stumbles through the darkened infirmary, struggling to keep her footing as the ship tilts dangerously. Outside, the waves are high and dark, cresting like mountains against the night sky. Nobody else on the ship is awake. Reaching a table across the room, Robin strikes a match with shaking fingers and lights a lantern. Walls lit up suddenly by the orange-yellow light of flickering flame, the room feels oddly claustrophobic, as if the walls themselves are leaning in on her.

Suppressing a shiver of unease, she sits at Chopper's desk and takes the liberty of borrowing some of his lined paper, as well as a charcoal pencil. With neat, orderly print, she writes out every part of the dream she can remember, from her younger self's terror at the thought of ' _them'_ to the colour of her mother's eyes. An indefinite amount of time passes. The night wears on, the storm outside loud and unyielding. Slowly but surely, the panic that filled Robin when she woke dies down into nothing, lapsing instead into curiosity.

Did she ever find her sister? Now that Robin and the strawhats are heading to revolutionary headquarters, she may find out. Something tells the amnesiac that she most likely didn't. She doesn't know what; call it intuition. And where could that black notebook be? Urged on perhaps by the memory of her mother's urgency, something inside Robin seems to flare up in eagerness at the idea of finding it, keeping it within her grasp, even though she knows it might be destroyed by now. Many years, though she can't remember them, have passed since that fateful night.

The dream itself feels almost like a blessing to Robin. It's the first piece of her identity that she's really managed to scrape up since she woke, like a scrap of personhood that she feels she needs to clutch tight to her chest. It's one piece of the monstrous puzzle that is her memory, an atom in a vast, vacuous universe of identity. Sighing, she writes the last few words and folds the piece of paper in half three times, rolling it up and slipping it between the locks of hair that she's tied back into a ponytail. She doesn't know how she knows the trick, but it seems to obscure the note well enough.

Playing with the pencil, Robin considers the last couple of days. It feels like the first time she's really put it in perspective; the memory loss, the confusion, the seemingly futile effort to rebuild her very personality from the ground up based on tiny thoughts and impulses. It all seems unreal, losing a part of herself that she can't even remember having.

A floorboard creaks behind her.

Moving so fast that her head lurches, Robin whirls out of her seat, hands flying up into an eerily familiar position. The darkened figure who was creeping up on her yells out in a very familiar voice as hands, delicate but firm, sprout around him and wrench him into a choke hold. A second after he makes the sound, a hand slams over his mouth with an audible smack.

Robin takes three rapid steps back, hands still crossed over her torso, adrenaline cutting through her almost painfully and all senses on high alert. The person she's caught up in a choke hold, struggling furiously, has his head tilted towards. His face is obscured by the shadows of the candlelight, so much like her mother's was in the dream. Robin feels her jaw drop when she sees blond hair glint in the dim light, sticking out from between his fleshy bonds, and feels the scar tissue that obscures the place where his arm should be.

Sanji and Robin stare at each other hard, one with eyes filled with shock and the other with some kind of inhuman rage that Robin has never seen - not since she woke up, and maybe even before that. The silence extends through the room like some terrible yet incredible force of nature, invisible yet so intense that it sends harsh shivers down Robin's spine. The only sound that breaks it is the rustle of Sanji's frenzied struggles.

Suddenly, the cook's eyes blow wide and he stops struggling with a choked gasp. Something new flits through his expression that's almost like regret, far more human that that fierce, wild rage was. His eyes dart from left to right, pupils contracted to pinpricks, before he abruptly goes limp. It feels to robin that, if she were to let go, he would fall without the support of her arms. His head lolls down, but by the fierce thump of his heart against her arms, Robin can tell that he hasn't fallen asleep or unconscious. Is he waiting for her to let go so he can strike? She takes another, larger step back, and feels the wall against her back, stinging her healing wounds beneath the bandages.

Sanji looks up all of a sudden, and his face catches the amnesiac off guard. Utter misery fills his expression, shame mixed in with something like helpless frustration. Before she realises what she's doing, before she can stop herself, Robin feels her powers give way. Her multiple arms burst into pastel-pink explosions of colour, petals floating to the floor around Sanji and evaporating into nothingness. The chef slumps, one hand reaching up to cup his stump in an almost instinctive manner. Something glints between the folds of his suit, and Robin presses still closer to the wall, a strange chill running down her spine.

"Robin-chan..." As he speaks, Sanji's voice cracks pathetically. "I didn't mean to bother you. I must have taken a wrong turning. Are you okay?" Even though his words themselves are rehearsed and robotic, his tone is close to broken. Against her will, Robin feels her heart breaking a little for this stranger. This man who just crept up behind her with a knife.

With composure that shocks even herself, Robin replies. "Of course, Sanji-kun. Perhaps you need me to call somebody to lead you back to the men's cabin? It is a dark night, after all." Unlike his, her voice is perfectly even.

"No... No, I think I'll be fine, Robin-chan," Sanji replies, staring at the ground. "Thank you for the offer, though," he whispers.

Just as quickly as he says it, the man is gone, disappearing out of the door. Robin hurries after him, muffling her own footsteps as much as she can and practically slamming the door shut behind him. She does up all three of the locks, leaning up against the door with relief as soon as she's done so before suddenly tearing herself away, paranoid that he's going to stick the knife through the wood and into her heart. Pulse still pounding, electricity racing across her skin, Robin pads across the room and almost collapses into the chair at Chopper's writing desk.

For the second time that night, Robin has to wait for the blind terror to leave her before she can move again, let alone think logically. Peering over her shoulder every five seconds, blood pounding through her ears, she just about manages to calm her breathing entirely as the sun starts to rise. The sky outside the window melts from deep black to grey, soon tinged with bright reds and oranges that race each other through the clouds like trails of paint. Robin lets herself be captivated by the sight, trying to distract herself from all that's happened in the last few hours, and when she's completely calm, she tries to think rationally.

Three things are immediately clear.

The first, undeniable and slightly terrifying, is that Sanji meant to kill her tonight. He had a knife in his hand, shining eerie gold in the candlelight, and murder in his eyes.

The second is that something about this isn't quite as black-and-white as it would seem. Some unknown element in Sanji's face won't leave Robin's mind - the regret, agony and grief she saw after he stopped struggling. It's almost as if he desperately didn't want to kill her, didn't want to be stuck doing it. As if somebody was forcing him.

And the third and final thing, she realises with no small amount of dread, is that she cannot tell the Strawhat Pirates about this. After all, who are they more likely to believe? Some apparently ex-naval officer who their captain fished out of the ocean, who barely knows what or who she is, or their own crewmate? There's no evidence for her case. Sanji would only have to say one thing - _'she's lying'_ \- and they would kick her out or kill her in half a second, she's sure of it. Robin's seen how protective they can be of one another, something birthed only of having suffered the worst of hardships together. She can't tamper with that.

So it appears that even if she doesn't want to admit it, Robin has no option but to not tell the strawhats, stay with them until they reach the Revolutionary HQ and then make a run for it. There's nothing else she can do. They're her only way to reach the heart of the rebellion, where her mother told her that her sister would be in the dream, and though she may even be feeling a little affection for them already, she can't let it cloud her judgement. Telling Luffy what Sanji tried to do would be the worst possible choice Robin could make, without a shadow of a doubt, because that would only lead to mistrust. Murder.

Robin can't bring herself to leave the infirmary until the sun is high in the sky. The waves are still rough, the air crisp and chilly with the northern climate, and as she joins the strawhats eating breakfast, Sanji doesn't look her in the eye. Nami smiles a little tersely at her, and Luffy grins in her direction around a mouthful of food. It's strange that they greet her like this – like they would any other member of their little family. It's almost like Robin has joined them already, even though she knows that that much can't be true.

Fiddling with the edge of the bandage over her eye, Robin pokes at her food for a little while but actually eats nothing. For all she knows, he's poisoned her plate and is just waiting for her to take the first bite. Eventually Luffy reaches over and wolfs down her breakfast in one bite. He seems absolutely fine which, at the very least, is some consolation. Nobody tried to poison her today.

The day passes slowly, each hour made up of the usual activities the strawhats participate in. Robin watches as Usopp, Chopper and Luffy chase each other around the deck of the Merry Go, young and carefree. She has a short chat with Nami, in which the younger girl tells her that Chopper, Usopp and Luffy are thirteen, fourteen and fifteen respectively. Robin expresses her shock, and both women talk for a little while about the forming of the strawhats, and about Nami's girlfriend back home, and about a million other things that don't linger in Robin's mind.

The woman watches silently as Franky stands at the wheel, eyes shadowed, not talking. Water 7 was apparently his hometown. He hasn't smiled since Robin met him a week or so ago, but the other strawhats tell her that he's usually cheerful enough – just not right now. Brook plays an upbeat tune on his violin, thought it can't be heard well over the waves. Zoro and Sanji fight nine times, and every time Sanji passes her, Robin has to hide a flinch.

The sole unusual thing that happens all day – despite the fact that most everything on the ship is unusual in its own way – comes in the form of a black-haired teen approaching in a raft, holding a yellow and red object that makes Robin freeze in her spot, memories flitting through her mind behind her eyes, too quick to process before they vanish. The strawhats gather at the railing, most confused, some mistrustful.

Luffy's eyes, though nobody's looking at him, are wide with shock and elation.

A smirk and a flash of yellow-gold eyes. "Would you mind letting me board, Luffy-ya? I believe I've got something that belongs to you."

* * *

 **Phew! Not altogether happy with this chapter, but oh well, take it! I'm just gonna finish up writing review replies and then sleep, guys. The next update may not come out till Wednesday or Thursday, sorry!**

* * *

 **ariririsu, Chapter 26, 23h ago:**

 ** _GOD DAMN IT I KNEW ROBIN WAS GONNA SHOW UP FU C K  
STOP TOYING WITH MY GOD DAMN FEELINGS YOU PIECE OF SHIT  
WHICH IS A BETTER WAY TO DIE,W ITH A LOG UP MY ASS OR A SWIFT CRACK OF THE NECK PLE A SE AND TH ANKY OU_**

 **I BELIEVE A LOG-IN-ASS WOULD WORK WELL ENOUGH**

 **I'M SORRY FOR TOYING WITH YOUR FEELINGS FRIEND, THOUGH THIS CHAPTER WAS UNDOUBTEDLY WORSE ON THAT FRONT**

 **ILY THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING**

 **(ps: my friend refers to you as 'ass-cactus' and I am LIVING)**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 25, 22h ago:**

 ** _I'M TOO FUCKING LATE ASDFGHJKL i was... too late with my review... but I'm still going to leave (an abeilt short) one! I'm really happy Usopp is finally here u he's my boy and I love him (and one of the reasons my review is late is because i started re reading to catch the fox references, and i remembered Usopp met Ace! god this poor child)_**

 **Hey! I'm glad you're liking usopp and if you're looking for fox references, I would suggest going for chapters 12 +13… *whistles* I said nothing**

 **Thanks for reviewing! *hugs* also, any idea when the next chapter of Control is coming out? I'm hooked!**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 26, 22h ago:**

 ** _Boi you sure messed up Water 7 XD  
Ooh Robin is here~  
*squints suspiciously at "Lucfer"*  
Yes, I am update trash now pfft  
Keep that promise :3  
Update~_**

 **Yes I most certainly did mess it up, huh? Oh well. Anything to put them all through angst, amirite? And yeah, Robin is here! And also a victim of attempted assassination and amnesia, too D:**

 **You have reason to be suspicious.**

 **You are update trash and ily and thank you for reviewing! *big hugs***

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 26, 21h ago:**

 ** _So I've finally reread and I think I know who the fox refers to, Haley, and it got me thinking, her surname is Blackburn right, so is the black referring to someone else?  
As for this chapter, poor Franky watching his home burn but at least we have Robin though she can't remember Luffy... Nami seemed to be remembering Loguetown but Zoro remained focused though he was also there, and what's Sanji thinking about?  
I loved seeing the revs and knowing they're worried about Ace, I'm wandering about why he's meeting with Garp, what's the connection there? Also poor Marco.  
Thanks for another great chapter_**

 **HEY**

 **Ooooh, you caught my little references to her! Well, I cant say much without giving away a big spoiler, but… haley has had a LOT of hints dropped about her. And if somebody manages to piece them together to form the answer, I'll be might impressed.**

 **What is Sanji thinking about? Well, I think you need to ask that question a LOT more… ;)**

 **I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter (and yeah, poor bby…..), talk soon! Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **MelodiofHope, Chapter 26, 19h ago:**

 ** _Awesome as always! Ace needs to find Luffy soon!_**

 **Damn right he does! Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 26, 18h ago:**

 ** _So is Roger #49.  
Poor Frankie, he finally gets home, just to have it bombed._**

 **Heya! And idk, is he? That's a pretty good question tbh**

 **And I know, I'm so mean to him D:**

 **Thanks s o much for reviewing, ily! *hugs***

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 26, 18h ago:**

 ** _I'M A GOD DAMN MESS IS WHAT I AM now dont get me wrong I've been VERY excited for them to reach the revs bUT I WAS ALSO VERY EXCITED FOR THEM TO REACH WATER7 AND REUNITE WITH ICEBERG AND KOKORO AND MAYBE EVEN TOM BUT NOOOOO THEYRE ALL FUCKING DEAD NOW AND FRANKY WILL NEVER REUNITE WITH HIS FAMILY also: things noted in the chapter include Sanji somehow knowing something was up, I CAUGHT THAT also Marco in the infirmary: because of Pidge? next thing to look forward to is reaching thr revs, I AM HYPE_**

 **Im sorry for hurting your feelings friend! I didn't mean to! (read: I totally meant to and I feel powerful). But who says they're all dead? I mean, whitebeard did say there were survivors~**

 **So many mysteries! I'm glad you're hyped, I am too! I hope you liked this chapter!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 1, 13h ago:**

 ** _One thing, are the bombings random or someone is trying to kill Robin and they just burn the islands they learn she's on? Just a thoughtMaybe she is one of the few who know about the #49 and they need to kill her before she reveals anything. As for the fox I don't really get the meaning, beyond thinking back to Usopp's fox mask and his fox tatoo (I don't have the time now to reread for more references), so I'll just wait and see. And god you're so annoying (in a good way but sometimes Idk if I wanna strangle or hug you), you're only as obvoious as you want to be with your little hints and right now we have Lucifer, Roger's Gift, #49, Roger's profecy, a fox symbol and a few other things and all of this has something to do with the ASL.  
Anyway, it was an amazing chapter and, as usual, it made my brain hurt and my heart cry out because OF COURSE something tragic had to happen. Dreaming about updates is something my brain does to annoy me and distract me from studying and it was just a funny coincidence I thought I might share with you, please don't think I'm trying to press you for quicker updatesAbout me writing, I'll PM you a short explanation later._**

 **Heya! About the bombings: that's something that will be revealed in the future, I promise! And I love being annoying :3 giving my readers puzzles to unwind is what I do!**

 **I'm really glad you liked the chapter and don't worry, I'm not under preasure! I just thought it was kind of cool. Anyway, I patiently await your PM and hope you enjoyed this chapter! *hugs* ily!**

* * *

 **3D.2why, Chapter 26, 13h ago:**

 ** _I thought I read the chapter and was so confused to see another one, lord I've never met anyone who updates as fast as you but be careful, don't lose sleep or anything. I'm sure we can all wait patiently. I was kinda giddy for Franky because it's his home Island and all then it just got bombed and I was thinking you have no chill, he didn't even get to meet them! I was pretty surprised to see Robin here and god- ANOTHER ONE! ANOTHER THEORY MY HEAD'S GOING TO EXPLODE HJHWNSADLJLHWLNANSDKALNL BTW loving the description and god, I don't think Sabo's alive with flies on him!_**

 **Hey! I'm really glad you're happy with my update rate – it's irregular but generally quite quick, so I'm happy. And yeah, I have absolutely no chill whatsoever! And I'm glad you liked robin and the lucfer – oh, sorry,** ** _Lucifer-_** **part! And yeaaah….im worried about the kid. Lets face it he's nearly dead by now.**

 **What? *whistles* said nothing of the sort**

 **Thanks for reviewing, I hope you liked this chapter!**


	28. 2-12 - The Law of Effect

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT:**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **QUESTION FOR YALL. I wanna change the summary, but can't think of anything good. Any ideas? I need help!**

 **Read on, and enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 28 – The Law of Effect**

* * *

The strange teen, looking just a little older than Zoro himself, walks with such self-assured confidence and power that the swordsman immediately dislikes him. His intelligent eyes slip lazily over each of the strawhats in turn, as if they're nothing more than pieces of lint stuck to his clothing, or perhaps mangled chunks of roadkill that he happens to have come across. The sun frames his head like a crooked halo.

Even with his casual stance, however, it's obvious that he's watching each and every one of them like a hawk. He managed to climb up the side of the ship and is standing against the railing, as if he owns the place. Zoro can practically feel himself bristling.

Luffy, however, appears to have no such problem. He races across the deck wide-eyed, pushing past Sanji and Brook, and screeches to a halt right in front of the stranger. For a second, they stare at each other, one calculating and the other curious. The moment stretches for an indefinite amount of time, before Luffy laughs and launches himself forward, hugging the man around the middle.

The stranger's entire cool, confident facade drops in an instant. Obviously, somebody doesn't like physical affection. Going bright red and shoving Luffy off him hard, he brushes off his yellow sweatshirt and glares harshly at the little captain. Luffy doesn't seem to notice that, if looks could kill, he would be six feet under by now.

"Tattoo guy! You survived!"

'Tattoo guy' rolls his eyes, still spinning that strange, yellow object on his finger. Or rather, Zoro realises with a jolt, a _straw hat_. Luffy's eyes are riveted on it, mouth open wide, with a look that suggests that he hasn't seen the thing in years. Elation. Reminiscence.

"No, Luffy-ya, I died in Edgetown's bombing," the stranger replies, with sarcasm dripping from his tone.

"Wait, really?!" Of course, the oblivious young pirate doesn't get it. Rolling his eyes, the older teen spins the hat on his index finger for a second more before, cautiously, he hands it over. Luffy practically jumps on it, snatching the yellow-orange object away and holding it close to his chest almost protectively. The strawhats watch as he runs his finger along the rim, feeling for tears or signs of damage, and Zoro raises an eyebrow when his eyes land on a little bit of crusted, browning blood buried deep in the thatched straw.

"Thanks for bringing this back!" Luffy tilts his head to the side, the image of innocent curiosity, and asks, "How did you get it?"

"You and your br- _friends_ left it at Edgetown when you disappeared," the strange teen replies flippantly, frame still relaxed, eyes never moving from Luffy's face. "I kept it on a whim, and had it with me when I escaped from that place, so…" He shrugs almost elegantly, with grace like a panther. "I figured that it's yours."

"How did you find us?" Sanji steps forward, mistrustful and apprehensive. The teen's eyes snap to him, quick as a cat, and something foreign snaps through them at the confrontation in his voice. Sanji continues regardless. "Were you following us?!"

"Irrelevant. Though I wouldn't be so quick to turn somebody away, Black-leg. _Beggars_ can't be choosers." A smirk curves his lips as Sanji flares up at the masked insult.

"And _you'd_ know all about being a beggar, fucker!"

Nami glances between the pair, one glaring, the other smirking in a self-satisfied manner. She raises an eyebrow. "Do you two…know each other?"

Sanji glares fiercely for a second more, before turning away with a scowl. "No, Nami-san. We don't."

Sensing that there's something else here but unwilling to question it right now, the thief sighs and turns back to Luffy, who's examining the stranger's face closely. He looks a little uncomfortable at the close examination, but stays still and meets Luffy's inquisitive gaze unabashedly. Eventually, Luffy seems to decide that the man's passed whatever test he's set out for him, and grins broadly, stepping back. "You're weird, tattoo guy."

'Tattoo guy's jaw convulses, and his eyes flash with annoyance. "Can I ask what gives you that impression, _captain_?" he asks dryly. Apparently, Zoro realises with an internal grimace, this guy has a thing for sarcasm.

"You know my name, and you survived what happened in Edgetown! And-" Luffy leans in again, gaze even more intense than before. Slowly, he cocks his head to the side. "Your eyes changed colour."

The stranger – or not, now that it's obvious that he and Luffy have history - stares right back for a second, yellow eyes widening a tiny amount, gaze utterly calculating. Then, he breaks the moment with a scoff and turns his head away, giving a pointed yawn of annoyance.

"You wouldn't know anything about my eyes, from before or now. I know your name because I heard your brothers saying it – you were hardly quiet while you trampled around the ash mountain. And-" He glances upwards, at the sail with the skull and strawhat painted on it strains against the wind. Usopp painted it the other day. "Your sail has much to be desired when it comes to subtlety, Luffy-ya."

Sanji scowls and turns on his heel, heading back towards the kitchen and muttering about stalkers. Zoro notices Robin's shoulders relax out of the corner of this eye, for some reason. The rest of the strawhats stay gathered around the stranger, some looking affronted and distrustful, others curious. Luffy himself is grinning, even though curiosity is sparking to life in his brown eyes. "Okay, well if you know my name, then I should know yours, right?"

"That doesn't make any sense," the teen replies with a roll of his eyes. Still, he replies, "Trafalgar Law. You can call me Trafalgar."

Luffy, of course, doesn't listen to a word of that sentence. "Alright, Traffy!"

The stranger now dubbed 'Traffy' goes bright red. He splutters for a second, brow furrowed, before finally sighing and seeming to give up and relinquish the last scraps of his dignity. "Fine, whatever works, Luffy-ya. Now..." He looks at the sky, face melting into concern. Zoro doesn't buy it in the slightest. "It's getting dark, and there's a storm ahead. My boat might not survive, Luffy-ya."

The vulnerability he's displaying catches the swordsman off-guard. It seems completely out of character after everything he's seen of the man as of yet. At this moment in time, Zoro is completely sure, in every fibre of his body, that Trafalgar doesn't just want to stay on the ship for the night for the company, or to get out of the storm. He wants something from them.

Zoro's captain apparently doesn't share the same dubiousness, however. He darts forward with a laugh, straw hat looking strangely fitting on his head, and slings an arm around Trafalgar's slim shoulders. Dragging him across the deck with a laugh, he messes with his yellow sweatshirt, practically draping himself across the man who is practically a stranger in a way that is completely familiar to the Strawhat Pirates. After all, they've all been through the same thing.

Nami and Zoro glance at each other, the former shrugging. Abruptly, Zoro gives a distinctively vicious grin, a thought hitting him that makes the whole situation seem far better.

"What is it?" Nami demands, as Usopp freaks out a few feet away, screaming about Law stabbing them all to death in the night.

"We've all underestimated our captain," Zoro replies, still grinning. The other strawhats all turn their attention towards him now, and he reclaims his spot near the mast, folding his hands behind his head.

"What do you mean, bro?" Franky asks. For the first time in days, his eyes aren't at all red-rimmed, which all the strawhats takes as a sign of (hopeful) recovery from the trauma that must have originated with the destruction of Water 7.

"Did you see the way he acted? Yeah, Luffy's affectionate, but he's not insane. He wouldn't have practically _cuddled_ the guy without a reason."

"What reason?" Nami asks. She snorts derisively. "He's hardly a mastermind of manipulation."

"Well, he got you to join, didn't he?" Zoro shoots back, and Nami shuts her mouth. As Sanji re-emerges onto the deck, the young swordsman continues, "He wouldn't have been that affectionate unless he wanted to keep an eye on him. If you're being hugged to death by some annoying teen, you're hardly going to attempt murder. The chances are he won't leave him alone today; just watch." Though most of them look doubtful, the other pirates nod. Robin in particular looks thoughtful, intelligent eyes glued to the door through which Luffy and Law disappeared.

Sanji re-joins the group, smoking a cigarette and looking put-out. "Dinner'll be on the table in half a hour," he mutters, petulant. The strawhats slowly disperse, Zoro closing his eyes to take a nap, the others going back to where they were before, dotted around the ship. The air is thick and cold, typical now that they're fully in northern territory, and when Sanji glances over the side of the ship to haul up Law's raft up, a chill far too intense to be caused by the climate shoots down his spine.

The raft is gone without a trace, nowhere to be seen in the surrounding waters, as if it was never there to begin with.

* * *

 _Robin breathes heavily. She can feel her face reddening with exertion, and the streets pass her by like one technicolor blur. The only thing in the world that exists for her is the pounding of her feet, sending jolts through her body with every step she takes. She's been running for what feels like days, eyes aching and stinging with the wind hitting her face, cheeks stiff with cold. The satchel over her shoulder hits her back with every step, the strap chafing the skin of her shoulder. Every bone and muscle in her body throbs with raw fatigue._

 _Behind her, shouts ring out and a stampede thunders around the corner and up the street towards her, just on her tail. Fear shoots through Robin like a drug, electrifying every nerve in her body. She picks up her pace, flying down the cobbled path, becoming one with the wind as it whistles around her and throws her hair away from her face. All she wants is for it to stop. To rest her weary bones, take time to bring enough air into her lungs to feel like she can breathe. But while this town is under revolutionary protection, it isn't within their territory, and doesn't follow their laws._

 _And now that the mayor has ordered his people to capture her, Robin runs. It feels like she's lapped the island twice by now, taking panicked gasps of air. Her teenage body, even after ten long years of running from what feels like the entire world, still can't take this for much longer. The seventeen-year old's mind is flooded with anxiety. She can't breathe. Her knees buckle with every step._

 _On a whim, Robin darts off down a dark sidestreet, nothing more than a shadow ripping through the shade that shrouds it. She can hear the people getting closer and closer, on both sides of the alleyway now, and looks around desperately for an escape route. The only way is up. Making a split-second decision, the teen pulls off her jacket to give het better mobility and jumps high enough to grasp onto a fire escape, before hauling herself up, arms shaking. They're getting closer. With more effort than it's taken for her to do anything in her life, Robin steadies herself on the fire escape and grabs onto a window, holding back a small scream as her foot slides on the rusty, crumbling wall._

 _Hands scraped and bloody, bag hot across her shoulders, the girl eventually manages to climb onto the roof just as people burst into the alleyway. She can hear their confusion and knows that they're probably looking up, so she conceals herself further on the roof, rolling over so she can't be seen. Robin's heart is pounding in her chest, her pulse rushing through her ears, every part of her hooked on a drug called adrenaline. Even as she lies still, she can feel her face heating up, sweat covering her from the long run._

 _"H-Hello?"_

 _Robin jumps, hands moving to their fighting position immediately, the back of her neck tingling. However, standing on the slant of the roof only a few feet away, is a little girl with big, dark eyes staring at her, cautious and ready to flee. In her small hand, she holds a green pouch – a pocket first-aid kit, looking worse for wear. Her clothing is dirty and torn, blue dress tickling the tops of her knees, which are scraped up and in dire need of plasters._

 _"Who are you?" Robin asks quietly, keeping her voice down in case they're heard from down below. Her hands don't move from their position, poised to attack or to defend._

 _"I s-saw what they were doing to you," the girl replies, ignoring her question in a manner that Robin suspects is intentional. "Did you hurt them?"_

 _Noting that this girl seems to automatically separate herself and 'them', Robin replies, "No. But I have a high price on my head, and your leader seems to know that." Her voice catches on the word 'leader'._

 _Glancing behind her for a second, the girl turns back to Robin and nods determinedly, before striding over to her and sitting down at her side resolutely. She starts unpacking the first-aid kit, and Robin suddenly realises just how banged up she must look after the month she's had. She's barely had time to rest between islands, let alone see a doctor._

 _"What are you doing?" Robin asks, confused, as the little girl pulls out a roll of bandages and reaches out to grab her arm in order to bandage it. "Why are you helping me?"_

 _The girl puffs out her chest, scruffy hair loose over her shoulders, and says, "My mom always used to tell me to treat everybody equal, no matter what. And you're a somebody, so I have to, 'cause it's right."_

 _She says it with such childlike obliviousness, as if it's obvious, that Robin's heart ache. It's been a very, very long time since somebody bothered to treat her like a person. And now, this little girl (little_ orphan _, probably, Robin realises) is acting like humans are a race that doesn't treat people like trash. That really does treat everybody equally._

 _Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Robin laughs wetly and says, "I'm Robin. What's your name, little miss?"_

 _That's what her mother used to call her. By the smile breaking out on the girl's face, it's probably succeeded in making her happy. That's good, at least._

 _The girl ties the end of the bandage neatly, eyes shining in the sun, and says, "I'm-"_

Robin wakes up.

Biting back a groan of frustration at the inconvenient time of her return to consciousness, the woman sweeps her hair back with her hand, fingers running over the bandages still wrapped over her eye. Standing, bones clicking as they grind back into usefulness, she sheds her quilt and pads silently across the infirmary towards the writing desk, ready to note down the dream and contemplate its meaning. However, before she gets halfway across the room, she hears fierce whispering from somewhere just outside of the door, possibly down the corridor.

Thankful for her silent feet, Robin creeps across the room, listening hard. When she reaches the door, she presses her ear against it softly, every movement executed so quietly and slowly that the air around her remains perfectly still. Almost as if it's waiting for something.

"…I can't believe…obvious…direct…"

"Shut up! Yeah, I…not much better! What…up like that…crew?!"

"If you really care, why…escape…" A long pause, and more indistinct whispering from two voices that Robin can't distinguish. "Yes, together!" The voice raises, and Robin can tell that it's male. It has no distinct accent, so she can rule Sanji out. "Of course together! Do you think…us go without…need us! It's hard enough to… on our ass. No, listen!"

"You listen!"

Footsteps thump up the corridor. One of them has stormed off, and the other is quick to follow, hissing after the other to stop right there and listen. Robin is left leaning up against the door, questions racing through her head. She knows one thing- she has a lot to write down, and a lot to consider.

There may be a traitor within their ranks.

* * *

It's breakfast time a few mornings after Law's arrival. Sanji is frowning around his cigarette, flipping a pancake almost aggressively and tossing it deftly onto Zoro's plate without ceremony. Luffy is asleep with his head on the table, having stayed up all last night to look out for northern lights, despite the fact that they aren't anywhere near them. It's just the kind of thing he does, Nami supposes. Usopp, Chopper and Franky have finished eating, and are messing around on deck. Brook and Robin are sipping tea.

Altogether, everything is normal. Nami has almost finished her letter to Vivi. Everything would be perfect, if not for the final occupant of the kitchen table.

Sitting alongside Luffy, Law picks at his food, dark circles under his eyes. Luffy must have dragged him out with him last night. Zoro's eyes dart to him occasionally, Nami notes, and she doesn't doubt that his sword would be at Law's neck if he even looked at his sleeping captain in the wrong way. Even if he is really his subordinate – Luffy being the captain – Zoro still has a flare of protectiveness for the boy.

Eventually, Nami can't take the silence anymore. Slamming her pen down on the tabletop resolutely, she looks Law in the eye and says, "Are you staying with us or not?"

He raises an eyebrow, almost looking amused, and puts down his knife. "What's it to you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe I care about my crew's safety?" Nami shoots back dryly.

"I didn't realise I was jeopardising it," replies Law coolly.

"You can't blame us for being suspicious when you just _decide_ to join us one day for no apparent reason," Zoro cuts in, just as coldly. At the cooker, Sanji has paused in his cooking.

Law shrugs one shoulder with that same impish grace that he displayed when they first met him. "We have the same aims. We all want to reach the revolutionaries. Why not follow with my old… friend?"

Zoro half-stands from his seat. "Like hell are you and Luffy friends! You barely know the kid!"

"'Kid'?" Law repeats, distain in his voice. "For his being your captain, you don't show him much respect. Or…" He tilts his head to the side in a strange imitation of Luffy that makes all present feel uncomfortable. "Or is this all a big game? A big, childish game where you play pirates together, and make 'friends'? And protect one another?" Law stands, scoffing. "Don't make me laugh."

He starts to make his way to the door, but Nami stands, saying, "Wait. You didn't answer my question. Are you staying, or leaving?"

"I'm staying – at least, until we reach the rebellion. Happy?" Still wearing that irritating, amused look on his face, the teen turns and walks out, the spotted hat on his head lighting up as the sunlight outside of the door hits it.

There's a long, thick silence once Law leaves. Luffy doesn't wake up. As Sanji offers here another cup of tea, Robin politely declines and leaves to get a few hours out in the sun, before the storm that Nami has predicted will arrive this afternoon. Brook soon leaves too, followed by Sanji, and soon, only Zoro, Nami and Luffy remain.

The two former teens stare at each other, both of their minds whirling. "You know something," Zoro says, stating a fact.

"So do you," Nami observes. Both glance to Luffy for a second before locking gazes once more, both of their expressions grave.

Crossing his arms, Zoro takes the unannounced invitation to go first. "Sanji's acting strange. Really strange. I don't like the idiot, but I know him better than anybody, and I can tell that he's not acting like he normally would. And – I think you know this much, too – he and Law have some kind of history together."

"Yeah," Nami sighs, rubbing a hand over her temples. "I'd guessed that much. As for what I know… I guess it's something I should have shown you before. Do you still have the note that Usopp slipped into your sword sheath when he had the mask on?"

Nodding, Zoro pulls said object out from where it's tucked under the bandana tied around his arm. "Yeah, why?"

"You remember Koala, right? Yeah…" Nami sucks in a breath, reaching into the pocket of her pants to pull out a small slip of paper. "Well, she's always been mixed in with some shady stuff. She's got this weird tattoo, and she's some kind of revolutionary, but not exactly an… orthodox one, if you catch my drift."

"She's with one of the underground groups?" Zoro asks, and Nami confirms it with a nod.

"Yeah, something like that. Well, for a while now, she's been trying to recruit me to join her organisation. And when we met at the archipelago last time, she slipped me a note about it. This." Nami slides the note across to her crewmate, and he reads it, face completely blank. His eyes scan it a few times, and Nami reads the upside-down words from where she's sitting, grimacing. They still give her the chills.

 _Void century.  
You know where to find __us_ _.  
#49_

The thief raises an eyebrow, sitting back and watching as Zoro places both notes side-by-side, as if comparing them to the last detail. She scans the other note too, Usopp's one too, and can't help but notice that they're written on different types of paper, with different handwriting.

 _You're standing on a timebomb. Run from strawhat Luffy._

 _#49_.

"Well, there are a few differences," Zoro says finally, breaking the silence. Rounding the table, Nami sits beside him. "For one, they're written in different formats. There's a full stop after that '49', but not that one. And the papers and handwriting, obviously. But, look-" Zoro points to the second note (specifically, the dot after '#49'). "There's one big difference. If you look closely – that's not a full stop."

Nami squints down at the tiny inked dot with a frown on her face, trying to make out anything significant about it. After a second, her eyes focus and she raises her eyebrows, feeling her jaw drop open. Instead of a full stop like she'd thought, the dot is a tiny, printed fox, painted in abstract. She can just about make out its red snout and ears. It's the same design as the one that used to be inked into Usopp's neck, back when he was mind-controlled. "What could it mean?" she asks, almost to herself.

"Well the other note doesn't have it, which could mean one thing," replies Zoro, running his hand roughly through his green hair. "There are two senders. Two people or groups of people sending notes, both including that number at the end."

"Well, maybe. But what're the chances?" Nami asks.

"Neither of us know what the number forty nine really means, right? But it's important. People wouldn't include it for no reason. Do you know anything about Koala's organisation?"

"I know they wouldn't want to kill an innocent person, especially not somebody like Luffy," Nami says immediately. "They're revolutionaries! They fight against stuff like this."

"Okay, so let's say hypothetically, one of the senders – maybe Koala's group – is trying to tell us something. What would the other sender add it for?"

"' _Standing on a timebomb_ '," Nami repeats under her breath. "Maybe to threaten us?"

Zoro stands, moving to shake his captain awake. At the same time, he says to Nami, "It's more of a warning, I think."

As Luffy gives a groan and starts to wake up, Nami fixes the swordsman a hard look. "You're not smart enough for this. You know something more, don't you?"

"I don't know," Zoro replies, the sun shining into his eyes from the kitchen window. "Maybe I do."

* * *

 **the chapter name of this one is so freaking meaningful. Okay look it up. Then look up what you find from that. Then find out what you know about that, and draw another thing from it, and then use the name of that thing in order to find out the biggest revelation in the entire fic.**

 **Yeaaah**

 **Its also a pun on law's name lmao**

 **Anywaayyyy review replies may be a little shorter since I got so many last chapter orzzz thanks so much guys! The support means so so much!**

* * *

 **Guest, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _Ok, that's so strange in Sanji, trying to hurt a lady, if I keep asking about what's going on with him (notice I don't ask what he's thinking anymore because I'm starting to think it's not him) will I get answers? (cont…)_**

 **Sanji isn't having the best time rn. I know. And it's gonna get worse. And yeah, go check on haley! It'll give you quite a bit of insight, I think.  
thanks so much for the review! And yeah, that's ace and sabo in the art! Cause im trash for them ;_;**

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _HOOOOOO Robin the amnesiac! That vague recollection that she managed was quite interesting.  
Sanji what (cont…)_**

 **Heyo! Glad you like robin! Yeah wtf is up with snanj idek  
and yeaaahhHH LAW FUCK YEs  
ily! I'll update soon!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _Omg, I didn't think that someone would ever show up in this lifetime that updates quicker than I can reviewI just love Robin, I love everything about her because she's the smartest of the Strawhats and always gives off this air of "I know more than you do". (cont…)_**

 **Heyooooo!  
I'm glad you love robin, I love her too! And yeah I know sanji's getting shady af I'm worried about the kid  
ily! Ily a lot!  
PS: didn't get your pm? Then again, my pms are kinda shit (hence why I reply to reivews in-chapter). Sorry!**

* * *

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 24, Jun 19:**

 ** _THIS CHAPTER WAS SO FUCKING COOL the Luffy-Robin reunion, Robin's amnesiac state slowly unlocking memories, SANJI BEING A FUCKHEAD AND WIERD AND WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU BOY? First he knew Water7 was fucked, now he's trying to kill Robin (cont…)_**

 **Heyo, Im glad you liked the chapter! And yeaaah, sanji's weird as fuck, I know. And as for robin's sister… the only clue you're getting is that she's older than robin, and that robin's technically an auntie.  
hey, what you've said is just making me look forward to the chapter more! Don't rush yourself, I'll be around when you get to posting it and I'm sure I'll love it!  
Love you lots, your reviews are pure gold I swear**

* * *

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _First off thank you for writing this awesome story; and actually replying to the reviewers. As a reader, it's so nice to interact with the author. *hugs intensely*  
Second, shit has been flipped... TWICE! (cont…)_**

 **Hey! Sorry if it's disappointing, but my review replies are really short this week cause I'm tired as hell and got a ton of them last week. Anyway! *hugs the cuddly hugs*  
yeah I KNOW shit went DOWN. I feel strangely powerful knowing you flipped your desk/cup, and tbh, I did when I first came up with the idea.  
yeah ikr sanji's an idiot. Stupid little idiot. I love him.  
and yyEAAAH HAT BACK. HE'S LUFFY NOW, NOT JUST LUFF. IT'S GOOD.  
review again soon, ily!**

* * *

 **gayastronaut, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _daaaamn you update like at speed of light or something you are amazing.  
Robin must be so confused poor her. Tho her memories must come back at some point at least. That notebook has to play important part so she has to remember the content or where she put it. Maybe..? (cont…)_**

 **ayy I'm happy you like my update rate! It's unhealthy but I need reviews so my health can go to the wayside a little.  
yeah, poor robin! And that notebook is uncomprehenSIBLY IMPORTANT.  
everybody's worried about Sanji, I know! I feel bad for the kid, but he seriously needs to get his shit together, I know.  
lawwwwWWWWWW! It felt so good to write him this chapter cause he's soo goddamn cool. If I wasn't gay for nami he would totally be my op character to date.  
thanks for reviewing, ily!**

* * *

 **Tetsik, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _I SSWEAR THIS FIC HAS PUT ME ON A BIGGER EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER THEN THE WHOLE WAR SAGA ARC THING JFC. SANJI? SANJI TRYING TO KILL A WOMAN, THE HECK.  
AND IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS IN LAW'S HAND, (cont…)_**

 **Heyyy! Im glad I'm playing with your emotions. I feel bad but also powerful. Very powerful.  
and yeah, sanji's not doing great right now.  
IT ISSSS  
I'm really glad you like the fic! That means a lot, and it feels really sincere cause your icon is just beaming at me im so happy wow  
yeah, it's gonna be freaking awful.  
ily! Thanks so much for reviewing!**

* * *

 **3D.2why, Chapter 27, Jun 19:**

 ** _AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH THE STRAW-HAT, THE LEGENDARY STRAW-HAT APPEARS YASSSSSSSS! AND LAW, WHOOOOOOOO! And wtf Sanji, did the marines pollute him that much (or his dad) that he would kill Robin? Bruh... things need to be exposed: Usopp, Robin, Sanji, Law, Sabo, Luffy and hell robin's half-sister! Bruh this chapter just killed my brain cells. Have a good day!_**

 **Heyooo! Yeaahh, the straw hat's here! Whoop! And law too lmao  
all I can say about Sanji is that you have reason to want him exposed….D:  
im glad I killed your brain! Kinda.  
ily, thank youuu for the review youre awesome**

* * *

 **MelodiofHope, Chapter 27, Jun 20:**

 ** _That has to be LAW! And he has Luffy's strawhat! (Which tbh I assumed Luffy had the whole time… He's just not Luffy without it)  
WTH is Sanji doing trying to kill Robin?! Does he know her?! (cont…)_**

 **Heyo! And yeah, you guessed it, it's law.  
I know sanji's doing some weird shit rn! i'm concerned for the kid tbh.  
does he know robin? Good question.  
thanks for reviewing! You're awesome as always!**

* * *

 **Laludofan, Chapter 27, Jun 20:**

 ** _Again, reviewing 2 chapters cause I'm laaaate~  
Nami you should know better than to leave your girlfriend behind ! Kidnapp her if you have to. ! Are you not aware of the author's cruelty ? Kaira is soo gonna blow up ;-; (cont…)_**

 **Heyooo!  
don't worry, ive already got a role for kaira planned. Plus, it's in the no man's land between north and east, so they don't really have much reason to bomb the place. Don worry, kaira's gonna be fine.  
yes, luffy is the world's biggest idiot and I love him for it  
SORRY but I had to! Water 7 has to burn in order to progress the plot ;_; sorry  
sanji's defo involved in some shady shit. No question. Im worried abt him smh  
*pssst* IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ANGELS AND LUCIFER, LOOK UP THE GUY WHO CAME UP WITH THE NAME OF THIS CHAPTER.  
*whistles* whadya mean I didn't say anything  
I wouldn't be so sure about which theory is right and which is wrong, just fyi. It's not obvious.  
o yeah im a sucker for angst. And crazy plot twists and betrayal and all that lovely shit. All of which will be seen in the sabo arc (aka the hell arc, in my head)  
AHHH YEAH THE STRAWHAT IS HERE! WTH YESSS  
I can't describe to you how much unimaginable joy long reviews give me. Honestly. Long reviews, long emails, long letters. Anything. Any long review is absolutely incredible to receive (I'd read a freaking 9,000 word review and still be ecstatic about it) and I love them a lot. don't ever doubt that. I really love responding! I love you and your reviews, you're awesome and I absolutely appreciate and treasure all the reviews you've ever written me. Youre not clingy or OTT or whatever, I love talking to people in the op fandom and I love hearing about my fics! Youre awesome! ill stop being soppy now!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 12 , 15h ago:**

 ** _Hello again! I have a bit of free time so I decided to breeze through some chapters in search for clues. I wonder why, in chapter 12, near the end Leo says "eight people" and then you write "five males", when I only count 4 males? 4 males and three girls make 7 people. (cont…)_**

 **Ah shit, that really was a mistake! Thanks for letting me know, ive fixed it now!**

* * *

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 27, 12h ago:**

 ** _Why do I get the feeling that 49 is actually an organisation?Besides, Koala slipped Nami that small note saying "You know where to find US. #49"  
And what/who the hell is "Lucfer"? That's been bugging me the most tbh!  
Sorry, as I read I feel the need to write my theories down_**

 **OooOOOOH NOW YOURE ONTO SOMETHING  
bravo, your theory is pretty sound! Not completely accurate, but close!  
yeaah, well, consider this word:**

 _ **LUCFER49**_

 **Shant say anymore! And yep, it is spelt like that.  
talk soon! I think I said too much….**


	29. 2-13 - The Youngest Brother

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **quite a short one today in order to prepare for the very very long chapter 30. Which will wreck you prob lmao**

* * *

 **Chapter 29 – The Youngest Brother**

* * *

As Luffy and Zoro, one rubbing his eyes free of the last dregs of sleep, emerge from the kitchen, the swordsman makes sure both notes are secure in his pocket and takes a look around the deck, momentarily blinded by the sunlight. The air is cold and sharp, and the sky above is grey for the first time since they left the Terror. They are well and truly in the throes of the northern climate. Across the deck, Robin and Franky are making conversation, the latter leaning against the wheel. In the crow's nest, Zoro can make out a flash of orange hair. Sanji and Law are standing near the port-side railing, talking quietly, and Zoro raises an eyebrow as he realises that they both look angry. Even Law.

Before he can comment, however, Nami's voice rings out from above. "Land ho! Bear east!"

"Got it, Nami-sis!" Franky calls back, turning to the wheel and squinting into the distance as the rest of the crew move into action as one, hauling the sails into place and unfurling them to catch the wind. The Merry Go turns, creaking slightly as she does, and soon all of the strawhats can make out the approaching island on the clear horizon. Blanketed with frost that is visible from even this distance, Revolutionary HQ is surrounded by iron-grey seas and seems oddly silent. It looms out of the water like a glittering beast, and Luffy squirms uncomfortably at the sight of it. Something about the place doesn't feel right.

"Let's go around the outside, try to find a place to dock!" Nami instructs, slipping down from the crow's nest with the grace of a cat leaping from a rooftop. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she glances over to Sanji, who's grimacing. The cold always makes his stump ache. Chopper looks close to running over to him, but instead stays put next to Brook, manning the sails.

"Aye, aye!"

It takes about half an hour but eventually, the Strawhat Pirates find a secluded little bay to drop anchor at. Luffy jumps off the boat and into the shallows before the anchor is even fully down, eager to explore, and comes up shaking and spluttering. Apparently, the water is far too cold for his liking. Shivering from head to toe, he drags himself to shore, and while the other strawhats take the plunge one by one – some far more gracefully than others – he glances around the beach.

A few metres from him is a dilapidated little wooden boardwalk, and propped up against it, is the weathered, dull skeleton of a speedboat.

 **LINEBREAK CAUSE THIS WEBSITE IS A DICK**

 _Soon, Ace finds an abandoned, dilapidated pier around to the south side of the island and drags himself and his bright yellow speedboat onto the rough wood. It feels suspiciously unsteady under his feet but it's land – sweet, sweet northern land. Depositing Striker on the cold rocks, Ace stretches his stiff muscles and slips his (somehow still surviving) striped bag over his shoulder. Pidge is still asleep, breathing softly into the hollow behind Ace's ear, and the teen tugs at his scarf._

* * *

"Luffy!"

Jerking back to reality, the young captain glances up to see Nami looking at him curiously from the shallows. He's been staring at the old boat for a few seconds or longer, apparently. Shaking off the strange feeling that grips him at the sight of the worn old husk, Luffy grins brightly at his navigator.

"Sorry, Nami! I just got distracted."

"Yeah, well, _don't_ ," Nami says, swatting the back of his head lightly. "We have to concentrate. The revs are in a tough spot right now, so they're hardly going to trust a group of strangers."

"They're in a tight spot?" Luffy asks, brushing sand off the knees of his wet shorts as the other strawhats approach. "What do you mean?"

"Since-" Nami lowers her voice, eyes darting to Franky. "Since Water 7, it's become pretty obvious that the navy are planning to bomb out the north just like they did with the west. It was always a matter of time, of course, but it's still extremely bad news for them."

"Oh," replies Luffy, looking a little put-out. "Won't they run out of bombs or something?"

Nami goes to reply but before she can, the other strawhats arrive, standing around them on the rough, cold sand. Sanji's face is still tense with pain, hand shaking slightly, but he says nothing. Law moves and stands so silently with the group that it's almost like he isn't there, despite the fact that the strawhats know all too well that he is.

"Where now, captain?" Zoro asks in a business-like tone, resting a hand on his swords.

"Into the forest!" Luffy replies, eyes bright with excitement. "Let's go!"

* * *

 _The forest is tranquil and still, and the ground feels like it's moving beneath his feet. It's a side-effect of spending long lengths of time at sea that Ace has grown pretty used to. Moving silently through the trees, the fourteen (near fifteen) year old glances down at his hands, still taken aback slightly by their soft callouses and thick, sailor-birthed tan. Do Sabo's hands look like his do now? Do Luffy's, even?_

 **LINEBREAK CAUSE THIS WEBSITE IS A DICK**

As they make their way into the undergrowth, the crew moving as a united, unanimous unit. As the ocean and Merry fade behind them, obscured by trees and foliage, Luffy's body starts to thrum with excitement. He has to resist the urge to run ahead. Only a forest away, maybe even less than a mile, is Ace. He's going to be with his big brothers. It's all going to be okay.

Memories flash behind his eyelids with every step. How long has it been since he saw their silver eyes, Ace's cheeky grin and childish freckles, Sabo's warm hugs and deep-rooted affection? How many years have passed since he was last wrapped up in the warmth of them both, since he last felt truly safe? Far too long – Luffy knows that, at least. Anticipation resounds through the teen's bones like a drug, and as he glances around the crew he can see it in some of their faces too; Zoro and Nami's, even Sanji's. Strangely, even Usopp looks slightly hopeful (what for, Luffy doesn't know).

"Slow down, Luffy-ya," Law says in an unimpressed tone, as said pirate nearly runs headlong into a tree. When Luffy turns to him, he feels something cold slip through him at his expression. The look on his face is vaguely desperate. It has the same anticipation as Nami and Zoro's, but far more hunger, far more animalistic elation at the thought of what awaits them.

Spooked, Luffy turns away from the older teen and pushes forward, walking faster, uncomfortable. The strawhats push forward, faster and faster to keep up with their captain, until they break out of the forest into a wide, empty field. Across from them, at the other end of the field, is a mass of white-walled, clinical looking buildings surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Their windows are all barred, something which dregs up a harsh feeling in Luffy as he recalls the last place he was in with barred windows.

The strawhats exchange looks, all uncomfortable, before Luffy makes his way forward cautiously and the rest follow. As he walks slowly, something between predator and prey, he looks around at the rest of his crew. Most look uncomfortable, and Chopper and Usopp are clinging to each other, sticking close to Zoro. Law's face is perfectly blank but for the slight upturn of one of his eyebrows. Robin looks grave and, possibly, even a little angry. The second she sees Luffy staring, however, the expression disappears from the amnesiac's face without a trace.

Closer to the fence now, the strawhats can make out a yellow sign, bright and bold with black lettering, mounted upon it. The sign is well maintained, and looks relatively new. The pirates hang back slightly as their captain moves to examine it, but after a few seconds, he turns back to look at Zoro pleadingly. The swordsman moves forward without a word, seeming to understand what his captain wants, and reads the sign himself.

"Luffy's illiterate?" Nami whispers to Sanji, stunned. Surely, his parents or brothers must have taught him _something_.

"Yes, Nami-san," the cook murmurs in reply. "Did you hear what Law said about him 'trampling around the ash mountain'? That might explain it."

"'Law'?" Nami repeats, as said man gives a pointed yawn. "I didn't know you two were close."

Sanji's grimace deepens, and this time, it has nothing to do with the pain in his arm. "We're not."

"'Quarantined area. Keep out. Biohazard.'" Zoro's voice cuts through their conversation. "'Entry will result in severe consequences'."

"Jeez, _they're_ angry," Luffy whines from his side. "Who cares about some bio-whazza?"

Usopp glances up and down the fence. "Look, there are more of them over that way!"

"I guess whatever they've isolated must be really dangerous, huh?" Chopper says empathetically. "I wonder if I can help them…"

"Well, should we move on?" Sanji asks, stepping forward to make eye contact with his captain. "Maybe their headquarters are further into the island."

"Yeah… Yeah, okay! Everyone, let's go!" Luffy calls, back to the excited mass of energy that he was a minute ago. The strawhats make their way back into the trees, this time walking parallel to the fence, and the boy at their head bounces along like an overexcited yo-yo until he trips over a root, going sprawling with a yell and scraping his knees. As he stands, he sends the root an affronted look, almost as if he's accusing it of betraying him.

* * *

 _Ace stumbles over a root and lurches forward, Pidge falling into his arms with a small squawk. Resituating him on his shoulder, Ace runs to catch up with Thatch, who is waiting a few feet ahead. Now that he has time to properly look at the man, Ace can see that he's wearing an outfit not dissimilar to that of a chef, and his auburn hair is styled into a ridiculous, though slightly impressive, pompadour. He has the overall look of a friendly, if slightly childish, man in his late twenties or early thirties. If he was a little older, maybe Ace would have his reservations (Ace has never really trusted the older ones), but Thatch is probably only ten years or so out of his teens himself, so Ace doesn't feel so on-edge._

* * *

"Come on, Luffy, we can't hang around!" Nami calls, even though she and the rest of the crew have been lagging just behind Luffy the entire time. "It can't be much further!"

"Yeah, yeah," Luffy replies, running to catch up with the rest of his crew.

It doesn't take them much longer to reach what looks like a small town, lined on both sides by shops, the streets wide and cobbled with brightly painted stone. All of the stores, however, are boarded up and grimy, rotted like dirty teeth all sandwiched up together. The streets are empty, the windows of houses dark, and frost glints on the dulled cobblestone. The carcass of a wooden food cart lies in pieces in the middle of the street, as if abandoned by somebody without care for what happened to it.

Luffy shivers at the sight of it, moving slightly closer to his first mate, distinctly uncomfortable. "L-Let's try to find the HQ, okay?" Whether his teeth are chattering from cold or fear, nobody can tell, and nobody asks. This place feels like the skeleton of a town, stripped of its skin, riddled with pockets of empty space and close to disintegrating into dust.

Without a word, the group follow Luffy down the street, sticking close together as the very air of this place seems to press in on all sides. This feels like a warzone, tense and constantly wary of attack, and they are the lone soldiers edging through the trenches. Everything about this place feels still; still in waiting, in fear, in anticipation. They walk on for an indefinite amount of time, passing street after identical street, but soon, Usopp glances up a sidestreet. His face melts into confusion and intrigue, and he says out loud, "Guys, I think that might be it."

The other nine people look in the same direction, eyes landing on a large building sandwiched in a back alley, seeming too large to exist there. It's wooden and panelled with slats of oak, and there are two double-doors at the entrance. It stretches so tall above the street that it probably looks over the entire island. Surprisingly, there are no guards at the entrance.

"Hey, look, it's their flag!" Franky says, pointing to a black strip of fabric fluttering in the wind high above the building, tied to a metal pole that glints under the grey sky. "That must be it, bro!"

"Yeah…" Luffy still looks uneasy, but shrugs it off, and he and the Strawhat Pirates start walking as one towards the large building. As they walk, they slip subconsciously into position – Zoro flanks Luffy like a shadow, Nami, Usopp and Sanji walking behind the pair, all tense and ready for battle. Brook, Chopper and Franky follow just behind them, Chopper in walk point, and all three are followed closely by Robin and Law, both of whom look uneasy. Unexpectedly, they all make it to the doors without interference, and Luffy shoots a look left and right before taking a deep breath, excitement flooding through his veins, and slamming his fist into the doors.

"What an entrance…!" Brook says, half in awe, as the doors slam open.

Sanji looks like he's resisting the urge to slap his forehead at his captain's antics, and as chaos erupts inside the building, he fails in that aspect entirely. "Way to get them angry," he mutters in irritation, preparing grudgingly for what he knows will be a battle.

* * *

It's Marco's first day away from the infirmary in a good few weeks now, and the other commanders are being… Delicate, to say the very least. It's common knowledge in headquarters that he collapsed a month ago, while trying to conduct a meeting with some potential western allies, and people are treating him like he's made of glass. Deep down, the man can't find it within himself to complain. It's reassuring to know that they care, at least, even if they can all be overbearing. Even Thatch, off on a mission near Stormy Down, calls him at least twice an hour, worried out of his mind.

Marco himself feels the definition of worn down. His muscles and bones throb, aching every time he moves. His eyes feel heavy and sore. There's a tiredness buried deep in his core, one that refuses to fade no matter what he does. Every piece of his body, every cell he possesses, is strung out to the point of painfulness. Five people have commented on how tired he looks since he left the infirmary this morning, and he's just about had enough of assuring people that he's fine.

He luckily gets a break from it, however, when he's eating lunch in the main hall and the doors suddenly explode inwards with an impossibly loud crash. Surprisingly, even in his state, Marco is the quickest to move. Out of his seat in a split second, he darts forward and comes to a halt right in front of the open doors, standing between the people in the hall and the double doors. Breathing heavily, the Gift user squints into the daylight, which shrouds the enemies in shadow and makes them into mere silhouettes. It takes a moment for his eyes to focus on the light, but when they do, he's met with the sight he was least expecting.

A group of mismatched people, the majority of them in their teens, stand in formation outside the doors of Revolutionary HQ. The one at the front who apparently punched open the doors is wearing a red vest and blue shorts, lined with white fur. His sandaled feet are wet with frost and dew, and his face is young and childish, eyes wide and warm brown in colour. He looks quite young, fourteen or fifteen at most.

Beside him stands a slightly older teen with short green hair and three swords sheathed at his side. He's tall, tanned and scowling, tense and ready for battle. Every move he makes, even the way he stands, mirrors that of the first teen; presumably, then, he's his leader. Behind them stand multiple others in a line, and as Marco scans them, they get stranger and stranger. A tired, sallow young man with dark hair and skin, and a yellow sweatshirt. A woman with long, black hair who Marco recognises, but can't identify. A younger woman with orange hair in curls down her back and a staff over her shoulder. A man with tanned skin and a long nose, holding a slingshot and shaking. A _goddamn reindeer._ A man with a yellow shirt who towers over the group, monstrously large forearms hanging at his sides. A skeleton. With an afro.

Now, Marco has been a revolutionary nearly his entire life and loved every minute of it. And he would consider the revs to be a pretty diverse group.

But _this_ is a new level of diverse.

"Who are you, yoi?" the man asks after a few seconds of shocked silence, breaking out of his thoughts. There's a dark edge to his voice that shows that he means business.

The teen at the front doesn't seem to pick up on it. "I'm Luffy!" he beams, "And we're the Strawhat Pirates!"

"'Strawhat'?" Marco asks on reflex, exchanging a glance with his father, who is standing from his seat. Both know how meaningful that word is.

"Yeah!" Luffy replies, reaching behind him to hook his fingers around something hanging on his neck by a string and pull it onto his head. Something very, very familiar. _His_ hat.

Marco realises that he's staring at the hat intently and coughs, trying to reassert his intimidating stance in the situation. "Alright, 'Strawhat Pirates', why are you here?" he asks coldly.

"We're not here for a fight," Zoro says calmly, taking a step forwards, but he continues to let his hand rest on his swords. "There's a man employed here who all of us need to see."

"Who?"

"Ace," Luffy replies in a startlingly determined voice. To the strawhats' surprise, a number of the revolutionaries surrounding them flinch, including Marco, and turn away. The air itself seems to plummet in warmth, atoms freezing in a barrier between the pirates and the rebellion, guilt and secrecy almost tangible all around them.

"How do you know him?" Marco asks after a second, suddenly looking at Luffy in an extremely calculating manner. Every person in the hall seems to draw breath.

"He's my big brother!" Luffy says, and his grin softens around the edges to form a smile so compassionate, so _familiar_ that it feels like a punch to Marco's gut. He can faintly hear Izo's gasp from a few feet behind him, and whispers break out like ripples through the hall.

Not everybody knows the full story of Ace's brothers, but they all know that he has a thing about brothers. Some theorized, while he was still at HQ, that he and Leo were brothers by how close they were. Others thought his brothers were in the navy, or the government. Others still thought they were revolutionaries like him. All anybody knew for sure was that whenever anybody mentioned brothers, even if he tried to hide it, Ace would clam up and often leave quite soon afterwards. Only Marco and a few commanders know the full truth; about his two little brothers, one working undercover in the navy, the other most likely dead.

Luffy, as far as Marco knows, is the dead one.

When the second-in-command fails to answer, mouth hanging open, Whitebeard himself finally steps forward. His footsteps shake the ground itself, as loud and as forceful as earthquakes. Most of the strawhats flinch and a few take steps backwards, nervy in the presence of the hulking, intimidating man. Even Zoro, Nami and Sanji, all three with nerves of steel after all they've been through, look close to backing away. Only Luffy holds his nerve, looking up at the huge man above him, seeming so very small.

They lock eyes for a split second, yellow into deep brown, frown into deep scowl. The hall holds its breath. Marco feels a strange sense of déjà vu flood through him.

"How do we know you're telling the truth, brat?" Whitebeard's voice rumbles through the very foundations of the island, sending cracks through the bedrock. "You and your 'crew' might be planning to kill us, for all we know." His voice mocks the very idea that they could. "We don't take kindly to pirates, boy."

"You're Ace's dad-guy, right?" Luffy almost growls, startling the watching crowd at the intensity in his voice. "Then, if you're not gonna let me see my brother, I'll just have to kick your ass! Some rusty old shithead can't stop me from seeing my big brother! Either you let me see him right now, or you're gonna die before I do!"

Their gazes intensify, a battle of power in the air between their met eyes, electricity seeming to race across the room from where both Whitebeard and Luffy stand. All Marco can do is stare, exhausted and dumbfounded, as some strange, alien force of will pulses through the room like a tidal wave. It's like watching a lion cub face off against an orc – one tiny fifteen year old against a wall of pure power. The rest of the room is captivated, drawn into the battle even if it hasn't turned physical yet.

Then, breaking the stillness, Whitebeard suddenly laughs a booming laugh. The teen with the slingshot, still shaking, almost falls over. Luffy remains tense, face still stony, but he relaxes slightly at the sound of laughter. Edward Newgate's low, gurgling laugh echoes out over every watching ear.

"Cheeky little brat! Ace isn't here." His tone cares not for mercy, nor for compassion, completely the opposite of the tone he uses when talking to Marco. "He left a good few months ago now. Do you really think you can get him back when the entire Revolutionary Army couldn't?"

Something breaks in Luffy's face and for a second, a heartbroken child gazes out of his eyes. Pure anguish and disappointment bloom across his young face. From behind him, the familiar woman says, "Well, Whitebeard-san, you know nothing of my captain's power. Maybe he can do what you and your organisation couldn't." Her voice has a sharp edge.

"Nico Robin," Whitebeard says, mildly surprised. The name rings a bell for Marco, but he says nothing. "How's Angel?"

Robin stiffens, and the rest of her crew glance to her. "I don't know what you're referring to," she says in a tense voice, every word carefully calculated before it leaves her mouth. "There was an incident a few weeks ago, and I was caught in the Water 7 explosion. My captain and crew rescued me, but could not stop the ensuing psychological damage; retrograde amnesia."

Whitebeard raises an eyebrow in disbelief, but says nothing.

Luffy cuts in again, pain gone from his face and replaced with pure determination. "You said you guys couldn't get Ace back?"

"Yes, brat. So what makes you think you can? Do you really think you can keep up with the war that's coming?"

Luffy raises his head, jaw set, and stares right into the giant's yellow eyes. "'Course I can."

* * *

 _"Just a brat," Whitebeard comments, not disdainfully. "Reckon you can make it around here, kid?"_

 _Ace steels himself, facing a human mountain. "'Course I can."_

* * *

 **Some questions you should be asking yourselves:**

 **\- wtf is up with the quarantine?  
\- what's gonna happen to thatch?  
\- robin what**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Tetsik , Chapter 28, Jun 22:**

 ** _Girl.. who saved Robin? Why do I get vibes from that one female from Film Z? AND NOW ZORO IS HIDING SOMETHING. AHHH, JFC- LAW. LAW'S PLANNING SOMEtHING. RIGHT? RIGHTT? and also aw thanks about the avatar thing_**

 **Won't tell you if you're right or wrong with her! But good guess, it's pretty accurate! Maybe it's true? Hmm. And YEAH zoro's being a little shit, of course. I mean I love the guy but damn he's secretive in this fic. Another little shit – law. Fucking law. I love the guy but holy fuck, he's so evil at times.**

 **Anytime, your avatar is really cool! Ily, talk soon!**

 **ScandinavianTrash , Chapter 28, Jun 22:**

 ** _Poor Torao has to suffer through Luffy  
That cliffy at Robin's memory slowly kills me XD  
A traitor...  
Great, more mystery notes :D  
Zoro, what are you hiding *squints*  
You're still taking breaks when needed, right?  
Update~_**

 **(Can I just say how fun you are to chat to omg)  
yesss, cause let's face it, that's the entire plot of the dressrosa arc lmao. And yep, that cliffy was mean, huh? Don't worry, it's most definitely not the last one lol  
TRAITOR. AND NOTES. AND ZORO BEING AN ABSOLUTE DICK. THIS CHAPTER WAS WILD I KNOW  
yeah, I'm taking breaks I promise! Thanks for asking!  
talk soon, ily!**

 **Guest, Chapter 28, Jun 22:**

 ** _I love how you made Zoro so protective and smart, he noticed Sanji's behaviour, got Nami to share her information and noticed the fox she missed and he still knows something more. Two different 49 organisations then?  
So Sanji and Law have a history together, so many questions.  
Great chapter as always, thank you so much._**

 **Yep, zoro's an idiot but he knows his stuff when it comes to protecting his crew. And two diff organizations? Maybe. Maybe three. Maybe ten. I don't even know anymore  
indeed, many many questions. All will be answered, I swear!  
thanks, talk soon!**

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 28, Jun 22:**

 ** _OMG you're hellbent on killing me! Yes, you want to drown me in mystery! LUCFER49... They look like initials, maybe? And there are two organisations apparently, one evil and one good? Koala is part of the latter and we saw earlier that the one marked with the fox symbol doesn't care about not hurting innocent people, Sabo is a victim of the fox after all. By the way, the way you described Sanji's facial expressions while Robin held him with her powers after his failed murder attempt made it look like he was mind-controlled or something. Like Hailey, and Usopp when he had the mask. And Sanji is getting restless because he knows he'll soon receive an order to do something unforgivable? Like... betraying someone? IDK. I don't think Hailey was herself back when you first introduced her. Maybe in the beginning when her and Nami first met, but then Shanks accidentally leaving her with the bad guys sounds odd. Did Shanks know that Hailey was beyond saving already? Because I don't see him abandoning innocents. I'm wringing my brains here to find out what the title of this chapter means and what the big revelation is. So far I have behavioral engineering, B. Skinner's research and his Walden Two book about an utopian community. I don't know if I'm on the right track, please let me know. PS: I don't know why my PM didn't reach you, I'll try to write it again on the laptop, aka my mother's 'favourite toy' that she never lets out of her sight. That might require some pretty advanced stealth skills and cunning on my part, so wish me luck!PPS: Make sure you rest as much as you need and please look after your health above everything else! (I am a med student and I know the importance of sleep, even though I don't get much myself!)_**

 **Heyo!**

 **Yep, I am most definitely out to get you right in the feels. Evil, I know! But I'm an ass like that. LUCFER49 is one of the biggest mysteries in the whole thing, and really complicated. All I'm saying is that if it is an acronym, well…what in this fic begins with L?  
I wouldn't exactly call them just 'good' and 'bad'. They're both complex and honestly p terrifying in their own rights. But you'll learn more abt that later, I'm sure!  
haley…as if said before, she's an enigma. You wont really learn her role until sab's arc (around chapter 39-40, I think. But nobody's even gotten close yet!  
you're on the right track a little, what with the psychology thing, but I'd suggest looking up who wrote the Law of Effect and then going from there – what else did they write? What is the Law of Effect?  
still haven't gotten a pm, but it's okay, I'm sure I'll get it at some point! Until then, I hope you like this chapter, and yes, I'll take care of myself! I promise!**

 **ariririsu , Chapter 28, Jun 23:**

 ** _Lucfer49. Look for 49. One's true, one's not.  
You motherfucking genius. You never cease to amaze me with little clues.  
also I have become even more emotional because being a female fucking sucks, so when I read the newest chapter I fucking cried you son of a bitch I am and will put all of the blame on you for everything that makes me want to suck a poisonous snake dry in this god damn fic  
I love you but I hate that you always manage to keep me hanging from a god damn cliff with a finger  
I hope you're satisfied you broke yet another piece of myself apart_**

 **(holyfuckingshitithinkyoujustsolvedtheentirefic)**

 **Holy fuck. YOU motherfucking genius. I love you? You figured out a really big thing?! I'm so happy wow  
please don't cry! *offers tissues and cupcakes* don be sad friend I promise the ending is happy.  
I love you too, and don't worry, you'll get back onto the cliff soon. Kinda.  
*hugs* ily, talk soon!**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 28, Jun 23:**

 ** _THE PLOT THICKENS AND LAW IS DANGEROUS AND SO I SANJI AND WHAT IS GOING ON? honestoy we're getting close to the end of the Luffy arc (I think) and then its the Sabo arc! (i think) and we finally all get to put our theories to the test_**

 **FUCK YEAH HE'S DANGEROUS! But not in the way you're expecting…  
yep, soon comes the sab arc! And it just brings more mysteries lmao  
also! Just read the new control chapter and I am in love with you. With the fic. With Iva. With everything. I loved it sm thank you so much for posting the masterpiece *hugs for about seven hours***

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 28, Jun 23:**

 ** _Note to self; don't read this story before bed, it will keep you up all night over thinking what's going to happen.  
Want, hold up first Sanji tries to kill Robin, then there is a traitor on board, and Law and Sanji have a history together. Nope my poor heart can't take much more.  
Thanks for the great chapter._**

 **Heya! Yepp, lots of mysteries, I know! Don't worry, soon comes the sabo arc! …and then just more mysteries  
thank YOU for reviewing! it means so much! Ily!**


	30. 2-14 - Foxes

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **good luck**

* * *

 **Chapter 30 – Foxes**

* * *

Luffy stares down at the photo Marco his holding out to him, eyes unseeing, face slack with shock. From behind him, he can hear a furious swear rip from Sanji's throat. It doesn't feel like he's really seeing it – the blood, the pain in Sabo's eyes, the pure despair that fills the whole photograph and seems to seep out of it and right into Luffy's heart. He can feel the tangible concern of the rest of the crew even without looking at them. He realises that his hands are shaking, and has to look twice just to make sure that they too aren't covered in blood.

"Luffy… Luffy, are you alright, yoi?" Marco asks from in front of him in a surprisingly gentle voice, nothing like the cold, dangerous revolutionary leader he saw only this morning. He starts to pull his hand back, taking the photo of Sabo back with him, but Luffy grabs it at the last second and pulls the limb back towards him, eyes still wide, drinking in every piece of Sabo that he can. Even if he is bloodied and tortured, eyes so devoid of the life and love his younger brother is used to seeing in them, he's still _Sabo_. Luffy doesn't realise that tears have welled up in his eyes until one drips down onto the photo, smearing the ink that depicts blood on Sabo's cheeks. He can feel his whole body quivering now, but with a gargantuan effort, manages to force the stinging in his eyes back and swallow down his tears. He's worrying his crew.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he says firmly, pulling the photo of Sabo away from Marco and tucking it against his chest as if it's a precious artefact that he can't let come under any harm. Cradling the photo, Luffy waits for his eyes to dry before looking up at his crew, hoping they aren't too worried. To their credit, all of them – even Law – try to act as if nothing happened. Only Sanji's face is grim, staring at the ground, but Luffy knows that that's for his own reasons.

"Alright," Marco replies, obviously not willing to push it. His posture is open, and it offers but doesn't enforce comfort. He reminds Luffy of a strange mix between Ace's warmth and Sabo's calm. "I'm guessing that was your other brother, than, yoi? Sabo?"

"Yeah," sniffs the small captain, still clutching the photo. "Where did you get it?"

"It was sent to us a few days after Ace first left a few months ago, yoi," replies Marco. "I assume, since you're here, you didn't know Ace left?"

"Mmhm. And neither does my dad," answers Luffy.

"Your dad?"

"Red-hair Shanks. Do you know him?"

Marco's jaw twitches slightly, but his face stays blank. "Yes, yoi, I know him," he replies vaguely.

For the first time since they arrived, Luffy gets a real look at the man who claims to be one of Ace's best friends. Balding blonde hair – the most obviously receding hairline Luffy has ever seen – flops into his very, very blue eyes. Marco has a pleasant accent that reminds Luffy of Sabo; he must be western. Those bright blue eyes, however, are dimmed by exhaustion. There are deep purples bruises like Law's under his eyes, faint hollows in pale cheeks, and he has a thin frame. His blonde hair looks dull, lifeless and matted. Every movement that the first division commander makes seems to be a huge effort.

"You look tired, Mango!" Luffy says, hearing the concern in his own voice. The strawhats, Law and Marco are all in a small bedroom with two bunk beds, where they are to stay for now until accommodation can be found for them. Outside the window, it's dark and quiet.

"It's Marco, yoi; and yes, I am," the man replies after a second, stifling a sigh. "Your brother has one of my daemons with him. It's proving to be a bit of an effort to maintain it, yoi. And one of our commanders – Scarlett – has taken one with her on a mission too, so it's...not going too well, yoi."

"Why don't you just get rid of them?" asks the young pirate, perplexed. "If it's making you feel bad, then why keep using the power?"

"Because if Ace's daemon suddenly disappears and he's flying over the ocean, yoi, what's going to happen?" Marco asks dryly in reply. A few of the strawhats wince.

"Okay, I-" Luffy starts, but before he can carry on, a beautiful man in a kimono with long, black hair sweeps into the doorway and shoots Luffy and the strawhats a sharp look. He looks to be in a hurry.

"Marco, we need you in the communications room. _Now_. We've detected a bomber plane flying this way. They're moving quicker than we expected."

Marco swears colourfully, darting into action. "When was it detected, yoi?" he asks, striding out into the corridor outside with Izo at his side. All the strawhats can do is tag along, none of them willing to be left behind.

"Just now – I ran here," Izo replies in a clipped tone, not looking at all like somebody who's just ran across the entire base. His hair and clothes are in perfect condition.

As they walk, Marco yells orders to passing men and women at an incredible rate, the fatigue that plagued him barely a few minutes ago melting away. "Get the first through seventh divisions to the emergency bunkers! Harris, get half a dozen scouts on the eastern side. We have an attack incoming. Hey! Yes, you. Get our intelligence divisions to clear to the archives into the basement, yoi."

The army, as one, spring into action. As Izo and Marco run ahead, the latter turns back to the strawhats. "Get to the basement, yoi – no, Luffy, listen to me. This isn't a battle. You can't fight firebombing. Get to the basement and don't leave until I come and get you. And if you hear explosions, pray."

As soon as Marco has finished talking, Zoro grabs Luffy's arm and looks him straight in the eye. Grey into brown, their gazes burn into one another's. The other strawhats watch with bated breath. Even as chaos erupts through HQ, nothing in the world seems to exist except for Luffy and his first mate.

"Luffy – we need to go."

"But we can't just-"

"Do you want us to live?" That question shuts Luffy up in a heartbeat. "I thought so. But if we don't get down there, captain, we're all dead. Nami's dead, Chopper's dead, Brook's dead, love cook's dead. _I'm_ dead. _You're dead_. So we either run, or we all burn."

The fifteen says nothing, turning his gaze to look down at the floor.

"Well?" Zoro asks, almost mockingly but not quite. He still maintains that painstaking air of respect. "What's your decision, captain?"

Hand clamping around the Sabo photograph, as if to remind himself of just what losing the others would mean, Luffy eventually nods and raises his head. "Okay, let's go," he says.

It's easy to get lost in this place. The group take wrong turning after wrong turning, having to retrace their steps time and time again until they finally make it to the lowest level of the building. They're all out of breath, limbs tired, hearts pounding. Down in the basement, there are five doors lined up in the basement to underground safety pods, and one passing division member tells them quickly that one has enough room for them all. With one last regretful look behind him, Luffy opens the door furthest to the right and ducks inside, closely followed by Sanji, Usopp, Chopper and the others.

Inside, everything's silent. The noise of panic and activity from the rest of the building is muffled so much that it's barely audible, nothing more than a hum. The room itself is bare – the walls are white, and there are no windows and no furniture – and the strawhats look around at each other for a second after the door slams, all breathing heavily, even Law. Then, Zoro scans the group and a curse tears from his mouth.

"What, mosshead?" Sanji growls through his teeth, clutching his stump. Chopper gives a cry of alarm when he sees that it's bleeding lightly. He obviously tore some of the stitches while running, and now his hands and white shirt are stained scarlet.

"Nami and Robin aren't here. Did we leave them out there?"

"Damnitt!" Luffy strides over to the door, intending to throw it open and run out to find Nami and Robin in the chaos, but when he tries the door it refuses to give. With a grunt of frustration, the spry teen throws himself against it hard, most likely bruising his shoulder even with his rubber powers. It doesn't even creak under his weight. "They locked us in!"

Sanji sinks to the floor with a groan, dark blood dripping to the floor, eyes clouded with agony. Yelping in alarm, Chopper runs over, panicking because he left his first aid kit and medical supplies in the room they were in before. He looks around to Law, shooting the fellow doctor a pleading look, and the man sighs before walking over, pulling off his hoodie as he goes. Underneath it, his frame is slim beneath a black shirt. "Use this to apply pressure to the wound, Chopper-ya. Once we get out of here, we'll be able to clean it out and re-stitch. For now, try to keep him calm," the teen instructs. The younger doctor nods tearfully and starts talking softly to the other pirate, trying to keep him awake and alert, as Law stands.

Luffy is still throwing himself up against the locked door, shoulder probably aching, and Zoro decides that enough is enough. He steps forward, maybe to pull his captain away from the entrance before he hurts himself, and after a minute or so of trying, Usopp joins in and they both eventually manage to get Luffy away. The fifteen-year old gives a deeper, more animalistic growl and struggles hard. Holding him back is like wrestling with an eel. Franky stands in front of the entrance just to stop Luffy from running back there, knowing that he'll hurt himself if he does.

"Let me go! I have to go find Nami and Robin before the bomb goes off, I have to save Sanji!" yells Luffy, frustration (and, indeed, anguish) evident in his voice.

"All you 'have to' do is sit tight, Luffy!" Usopp calls desperately, before the elbow of said boy hits him hard in the jaw and he stumbles back with a yell.

Luffy screams something again, eyes filled with anger as if facing an enemy, but it's drowned out by the huge explosion that rocks the very ground, sending tremors through the basement like an earthquake and emitting such a loud, screaming ' _boom_ ' that half of the group cover their ears. It feels as if the entire world has just shattered under the impact of a thousand bombs, splitting the building at its roots, tearing apart its foundations. Though the explosion only lasts a minute, it feels like hours until the shaking fades. When it finally does, everything – even the hum that surrounded only minutes ago – is gone.

Luffy sinks limply from Zoro's arms, knees hitting the floor, a horrified look on his face.

The full implications of what has happened hit the group with as much of an impact as the explosion. Minutes pass; nobody says anything, nobody moves. Sanji chokes on a groan of pain in the corner, and it's not clear as to whether he's agonizing over what happened to Robin and Nami or his wound itself. Law, leaning against the wall, says nothing and keeps his head down. Time passes, and soon Zoro sinks down next to his captain, only for the movement to be echoed by the others. It's obvious that Luffy won't be struggling anymore.

Suddenly, shattering the stillness that's settled over the small group in their grief, the door slams open. In the doorway stands Marco, soot smeared on his face, grimacing but alive. He takes in the strawhats in mild shock at the horror on their faces, before seeming to comprehend what they think has happened.

"It's not what you're thinking, yoi," he says quickly. Luffy looks up, hopeful. "We managed to head them off with our own fighter pilots – the bomb hit the west side of the island, near the quarantined island. All it destroyed was a small bay. We're still trying to put out the fires. HQ is fine, yoi."

Luffy stands, elated, before the happiness on his face abruptly trickles away. "Merry's down there," he whispers.

The rest of the crew practically jump to their feet, even Sanji, whose entire hand is stained red with blood. "What's the plan, captain?" Usopp asks, though his voice is shaking.

Luffy glances from Marco to Sanji, then out of the door behind them. Then, his expression seems to settle into something far too old for his young face. "Traffy, take Sanji to somewhere where you can treat his arm. I'll try to find Nami and Robin and make sure they're okay. Zoro, Usopp, Chopper, Franky, Brook – you go see if Merry's okay."

Three or four voices say, "Aye, aye," but most of the group just nod mutely. Orders given, Luffy darts past Marco and out of the room, and the others follow quickly.

* * *

When Robin pulls Nami away from the strawhats and into an empty storage room, the navigator doesn't even have time to ask her why, or what's going on, before the older woman locks the door behind them. Outside, the other strawhats thunder away, unknowing of who they've left behind.

"Robin, what are you doing?!" Nami asks, voice slightly frantic, pulse pounding wildly in her ears. "We have to get to the basement, the bomb might hit soon!"

Robin doesn't answer. She's standing against the door, head down, eyes dark. Something about her stance puts Nami on edge. A deep chill seeps through the room, and for a second, time itself seems to quiver within itself.

"…Robin?" Nami asks, subconsciously taking a step back.

"I wanted…" Robin seems to struggle with what to say for a second, brow furrowed, still not meeting Nami's gaze. "I wanted to say sorry."

"Sorry?" Nami repeats, "Sorry for what?"

"For wasting the life you and your crew saved. Wasting your trust." The woman's voice is almost trance-like, as if she's saying the words without hearing them.

"What do you mean?" asks Nami urgently. "Robin, whatever you're thinking about doing, I want you to stop thinking it. Right now. You're not 'wasting' any life, not while we're around."

Silence hangs on the air for a second. Robin sighs, seeming to melt further against the door, looking far older than usual. Slowly but surely, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a black notebook.

* * *

Zoro and the others pound through the forest they crossed only hours ago, though it feels like years. The swordsman's breath comes in harsh, quick gasps. Marco leads them, knowing which way to go, and the quarantine zone fence flashes past as they run. Though he would like to, Zoro doesn't have much hope for the Merry Go. By the direction they're heading in, it's becoming less and less likely that it wasn't caught in the explosion. Fire burns ahead of them, black smoke blotting out the stars as it stretches high into the sky.

Finally emerging out onto a familiar beach, the group of pirates are met with the sight of Merry's burning mass, bright and terrible in all its reality. Both Usopp and Franky run forwards, shouting in alarm as the fire burns. Zoro grabs the second before he can make it far, holding him back by the arms as Franky runs forward helplessly, yelling out. There's nothing he can do. The Merry Go crackles and blazes, ram figurehead a dark blur within the gold and scarlet, and Franky's shoulder's shake as he looks into the destruction.

Teary-eyed, Chopper runs to Zoro and clutches his leg, allowing himself to be picked up and placed against the swordsman's shoulder. Even Brook looks sorrowful, lingering close behind Usopp, Zoro and Chopper, the white of his bones orange-red in the firelight. Ahead of them, Franky falls to his knees, losing yet another precious thing to the merciless fire.

Zoro ducks his head and allows himself, just for a minute, to mourn for the loss of their ship.

* * *

Luffy runs from room to room, up down staircases and through corridors with no attempt to organise his search. Where could they have gone? His mind buzzes with worry and adrenaline as he check another room – room 490, which is bare but for two bunk beds – and runs on, calling their names until his voice starts to go numb.

As he runs through yet another corridor, the captain hears a voice hiss, "Luffy-ya, they're in here!"

Wheeling around fast, Luffy darts back the way he came and comes face-to-face with Law, who's sticking his head out of a set of double doors. He nods and beckons Luffy inside, before shutting the doors to the infirmary behind him. Inside, Sanji gives Luffy a weak nod, clutching at his bleeding shoulder with his hand and perched on a white hospital bed.

"Alright," Luffy says, breathing hard and turning to place himself between Sanji and Law, facing the latter. His ears are ringing. "Where are they?"

* * *

"Robin, please just talk to me!" Nami says, stepping forwards even with all of her instincts telling her not to. "What's going on?!"

"You know," Robin murmurs, still in a trance-like state. "My organisation has a procedure. We're all taught it from the day we join. It's proven effective for years in keeping our secrets just that – _secrets_. If we ever wake up in an unfamiliar place, you know what we're supposed to do?"

"I don't know anything about any organisation!" retorts the navigator, still confused.

"We're trained to play as typical retrograde amnesia victims." Nami's mouth drops open in horror. "We act as weak and vulnerable as we can in order to convince people that we mean no harm, even writing dream diaries to make it more convincing, and then-" Robin clicks her fingers, her first movement since they got in here, and still doesn't raise her head. "We erase any trace that we were ever there. Just like that."

"You-!" stutters Nami, horrified. "You betrayed us! You never lost your memory in the first place!"

"I didn't," Robin confirms, emotionless. "If your doctor was competent, he would have known that."

"He's thirteen! Hell, Luffy's fifteen and you still don't seem to have a problem with breaking his heart!" Nami says angrily, feeling tears sting her eyes unexpectedly. "That's what this would do to him! He care about you just as much as everybody else on the crew, he loves you! _We_ love you!"

For the first time since the conversation started, Robin looks up. Her eyes look suspiciously wet, but her face is firm. "I'm sorry, Nami. But if you really want to know the truth about everything…" She walks forward, and Nami is frozen in her place, eyes wide. Robin presses the black notebook, worn and seeming strangely sacred, into her hand. "Read that," she whispers. "We will meet again."

Then, before Nami can process what's happening, Robin brushes past her and to the window. Rain has started to pour outside. The navigator turns almost in slow motion, watching her friend open the tall window and step onto the sill, the image of grace in every move she makes.

Robin turns back and looks her in the eye one last time, and the moment lasts eternally before she turns away. "You'll see my sister soon, I'm sure. Send Scarlett my regards."

Then, she falls, disappearing into the night as if she was born there. An explosion rips through the night, and Nami runs to the window, searching desperately through the dark for Robin. There's no sign that she was ever there.

Just like that.

* * *

"I said," Luffy repeats menacingly after a beat of silence, " _Where are they_?"

Law looks him in the eyes a second longer, before turning and making his way swiftly to Sanji's bedside. The cook looks resigned, and something in his eyes is broken. Luffy's instincts are screaming at him that something is very, very wrong.

Law and Sanji exchange looks, before Sanji heaves a deep sigh. As if he's about to do something he's going to regret. "Luffy… I need your help…" His voice is weak. Wet blood glints on his fingers.

Luffy darts forwards, running to Sanji's bedside, desperate to help his injured friend in any way he can. "Just tell me what I can do! I'll do anything!"

Sanji looks up into his eyes, blue irises bright under the fluorescent light of the infirmary as his pupils contract. He bites his lip, then says softly, "Stay still."

A sharp, incomprehensible agony rips through Luffy's spine. His stomach explodes with sharp pain, both freezing cold and boiling hot at the same time. It feels like he's being set on fire from the inside out. Horrified, feeling something wet and coppery fill his mouth, he looks down. Something sharp and sliver is protruding out of his stomach, and blood so dark it's almost black drips to the polished floor.

Seconds tick by, and a rough whimper rips itself from Luffy's throat. Then, Law's knife pulls out of his stomach and every bone in his body goes limp. The only thing he can feel is that wet, terrible pain in his gut. Slumping forwards, half on the bed, the fifteen-year old's head lands in the crook of Sanji's neck. Blood dribbles from between his lips and into blonde hair.

The last thing Luffy hears is Sanji whispering, over and over in his ear, that he's so sorry.

 **-line break-**

Zoro, Chopper, Usopp, Franky and Brook run into the infirmary, prepared for the sight of Law and Luffy sitting at Sanji's bedside, worried about the cook. What they don't expect to see, however, is Luffy lying on the white infirmary floor in a pool of his own blood, and no sign of Sanji or Law.

Usopp moves first, running forwards to grab his captain's shoulders and turn him over, smearing blood on the floor. "Luffy?! Hey, Luffy, wake up!"

Zoro moves into action, looking truly shaken and scared for the first time any of them can remember. "Usopp, stop shaking him – he's lost enough blood already." The swordsman's voice breaks. For the first time, it becomes painfully obvious to the others that he's only seventeen, not some invincible soldier. "Chopper?" The reindeer looks up, eyes wide and terrified. "Help him. Brook, Franky, go find Marco and the others."

"Okay, bro…" Franky answers cautiously. Everybody's moving too slow, still shell shocked by Luffy's body on the floor. He and Brook leave the room and only a few seconds later, as Chopper rummages through a nearby chest of draws for medical supplies with tears on his face, Nami bursts in.

"I-" She freezes, face melting into abject horror. "Luffy?!"

"Turns out Sanji and Law really did have a past together," Zoro says grimly, taking in the navigator's flustered state. "A past more important than our captain. They're gone."

Usopp looks up from across the room. "Y-You can't be sure it was them, right?"

The seventeen-year old scoffs. "I can't be sure that Luffy's going to live past this either, but that doesn't make it unlikely."

Nami takes shaky steps towards Luffy, who's still lying on the floor, blood smeared around his mouth. Zoro notices for the first time that she's alone, and that her eyes are red-rimmed and wet. "What happened to Robin?" he asks, half of him not wanting to know the answer, as Chopper gets to work on his captain.

Nami wipes tears from her eyes angrily. "She's gone too. She never had amnesia to begin with – she left me this." Handing Zoro a black notebook, the girl helps Chopper life Luffy's limp body onto the bed, dirtying her hands with his warm, sticky blood.

Zoro stares down at the notebook for a second, curious, before opening it on the first page.

 ** _Property of:_**

There's a scribbled out name, and then in neat lettering, the word **_AANGEL_**.

"'AANGEL'?" Zoro mutters to himself, before closing the black notebook resolutely and putting it down on the table beside Luffy's bed. They can find out why the betrayal happened tomorrow. For now, they need to focus on keeping their captain alive.

* * *

Luffy wakes up slowly, half opening his eyes to look up at a dull, white ceiling. There are two warm things on either side of him, one beneath his head and the other on top of him. At the foot of the bed he's sleeping on, he can feel warm breathing on his ankle.

Opening his eyes fully, the small pirate shifts slightly, groaning as the movement sends fire licking at his internal organs. Everything hurts. Glancing around, Luffy spies his hat lying on a nearby table. He's lying with his head cushioned on a clothed thigh, and Chopper's asleep on his chest. At the bottom of the bed, Usopp's asleep half on the floor and half on the bed, head near Luffy's feet. In a chair beside the hospital bed sleeps Zoro, mouth open, brow tense even in slumber.

Luffy sits up, gently pushing Chopper off him. Nobody around him wakes, and the teen looks up to see that it was Nami's leg he was sleeping on. The blue denim of her cut-offs is now stained dark with what must be either blood or drool. Or both. Franky and Brook are both sleeping a the foot of the bed, one snoring comically, the other muttering in his sleep.

"Finally awake, brat?"

Luffy starts and looks around. The infirmary is empty but for a figure curled up in the bed beside his own and a huge man sitting at a large table across the room, hulking form seeming simply too large to be allowed. Whitebeard, Ace's Oyaji.

Careful not to wake any of the pirates sleeping around him, Luffy climbs painstakingly from the hospital bed, wincing with every move he makes. It takes a while but soon, he manages to reach Whitebeard, and sits on the table cross-legged to look up at him. "Mmhm. Hey, old man, what happened last night?"

Whitebeard raises an eyebrow, yellow eyes piercing, as if he can't believe Luffy doesn't remember. Then, he snorts. There's no humour in it. "Three of your crew are gone. According to your first mate, they betrayed you."

Suddenly, it all comes rushing back. The explosion, Sanji's bleeding arm, Merry, Nami and Robin, the knife sticking out of his stomach. Sanji and Law betrayed them. Sanji told Luffy over and over as he passed out that he was sorry.

"I take it you remember now," Whitebeard says, quietly. Luffy nods.

"What happened after they- y'know." The pirate gestures to his stomach awkwardly.

"Well, your crew called Marco. Sadly, he had a relapse last night after the stress of the explosion and everything else." Whitebeard gives a heavy sigh. "We received news that one of our commanders has been killed just off Stormy Down. He was one of Marco's best friends."

"Sorry, old man," Luffy replies, looking down at his hands. After a second, he glances up and says, "I have questions."

"A lot of them?" Whitebeard asks, slightly amused, though his eyes are still dark.

"Yeah. What do you know about Robin? Cause she's not here, and you said she betrayed us and you used to know her, so…?"

"What don't I know about Nico Robin," Whitebeard replies flatly. "She's part of a rival organization we know as AANGEL, or just Angel, if you don't want to spell it out. The Association for the Abolition of Gift-user Execution Liberties. Simply put, it's another revolutionary organization, run by a man called Dragon. Robin is quite well known here and there, in different circles. She's spent her life, as far as I know, being a loyal spy for Dragon – she's been a naval officer, part of the Revolutionary Army, even recently one of Blackbeard's commanders. She's a very dangerous woman, as you might have guessed."

"Alright…" Luffy frowns, taking it all in. "Why did Ace leave?" he demands.

"Nobody really knows," replies Whitebeard. "Four days before, he started acting strange. He got sick, wouldn't move. All he did was stare into space. On the fourth night-" The giant man takes a huge swig of sake. "He left, taking one of Marco's daemons with him."

"Okay. I keep hearing about this place called 'Stormy Down' – what is it?" Luffy grills.

"Stormy Down is a…" Whitebeard struggles, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable for a second. Before he can elaborate, however, the infirmary door slams open. A small girl with short, auburn hair runs in, looking directly at Whitebeard and not seeming to notice anybody else in the room.

"Oyaji, we know where Ace is!"

Her shout wakes a couple of the strawhats – Zoro, Nami and Usopp begin to stir – and Whitebeard stands, concerned. "Is he okay?" Luffy hops off the table too, ignoring the pain in his gut, hope filling his heart. _Ace_.

The girl goes to answer but before she can, she glances across to the other strawhats and freezes, shock flitting through her green eyes. Her eyes are riveted on Zoro and Nami, and she takes a cautious step forward just as Zoro's eyes drift open and land directly on her.

"Zoro?" she asks, hopeful, shocked, elated.

The older teen blinks sleep from his eyes, uncomprehending, before his eyes widen and he practically scrambles to his feet, graceless, stumbling forwards. "Haruta?!"

The young revolutionary stares for a second more before running forwards with a yell and leaping right into Zoro's arms. Nami jerks awake and looks up at them disorientated for a minute before realising what's happening and joining the hug in a rush, the three sinking to the floor with their combined weight, knees weak.

"What happened to you?!" Nami asks, pulling back for a second to brush her old friend's hair out of her eyes. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah-" Haruta sniffs, one of her skinny arms wrapped around each of their shoulders. "Yeah, I'm alright. What happened to you two?! Oyaji said the people staying up here were pirates; is that you?!"

"Yeah," Zoro says with a small smile, looking down at Haruta with pure relief written all over his face. "It's good to see you, Haruta. Me and Nami were worried."

With another wail, the young girl buries herself back in the hug, and they stay like that for at least a few minutes. The other strawhats wake slowly, most confused about what's going on but not willing to separate the trio, and Luffy has to sit back down as his wound begins to ache. His body is vibrating with excitement, however, at the prospect of finding Ace. He's closer than ever.

When Haruta, Zoro and Nami eventually separate, all of them wiping their eyes a little, Haruta sniffs thickly and turns back to her adoptive father. Her face turns grave at the thought of why she came here and the first place, and Whitebeard asks surprisingly gently, "What do we know about Ace, Haruta?"

She shakes her head, as if the very thought of it is painful. Her lips fold into a grim line. "It's not pretty, Oyaji. It's really not pretty."

* * *

 **I'm not sorry at all lmao**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 29 , 18h ago:**

 ** _Whitebeard knows Robin. Okay then. Angel? •~•  
I swear if you try to harm my poor bby Thatch  
Sanji needs to not. And Zoro's actions are freaky  
Luffy a bit too late to see Ace ;-;  
Update~_**

 **Heyo!  
I'm so sorry….i did hurt him…D: its gonna be even worse when you find out how he died  
I know, Sanji's being a dick but hopefully I can justify his being a dick. Maybe  
THAT WILL HAPPEN I PROMISE. I PROMISE. KINDA  
thanks for the review!**

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 29, 17h ago:**

 ** _I have a weird habit of reading the your replies to our reviews before the actual chapter. I was SO sure that at some point I wrote in a review something about lucfer49look for 49' and I was SO sure that you answered that 'no. that's not it' that I dropped the whole thing. I want to CRY right now because all this time I've been looking for something OTHER than that! So I was right, even if I apparently never wrote it, or my review was never posted for some reason. I swear to every deity there is that I wrote that at some point, but I went back and couldn't find it T_T Excuse the wails of a frustrated person, I just needed to get this out of my system because I couldn't focus on the chapterI'm good now *breaks some stuff in her room and pulls out her hair*. Yup!_**

 **Awww, that sounds frustrating I'm sorry! but hey, at least you were right :D *offers tissues and hugs*  
(tbh I think you'll need both of these things after this chapter lmao)**

 **Amelia Pan chapter 29 . 17h ago**

 ** _Okay, so now review:  
Zoro's loyalty is something that makes my heart ache with respect and awe, I love his determination and quite unusual fairness for a pirate. I like him so much I could hug him right through the screen even if he's only letters. I guess Robin's sister is Angel? Great now I think about Angel Island in the Skypea arc. Was Robin a double agent or something? Because if Marco and co know her then she had obviously made it to the revolutionaries when she was a little runaway girl. But why go back? And where is her notebook? In Whitebeard's safe keeping or just lost?  
And yeah I do wonder about the quarantine. WTF  
If you kill Thatch I WILL. FIND. YOU! I swear to God! I got mad with Oda for killing Ace once and that had been an enotional experience I'm not keen on repeating.  
As for that blasted PM, in short it was something like: I have three One Piece AUs in the making and quite a few chapters done for each of them (over 10k each) but I'm too much of a coward to start posting until they're complete because my mind is so godddamn volatile that I'd rather not take any chances. And I have a One Piece One-shot that I'm planning to test the public with once I get it beta-ed (as soon as my exams are over!). That's pretty much it. See you soon with the monstrous ch 30 you teased us with_**

 **I love zoro! I do! I love him a lot! and I'm glad you like my interpretation of him :D as for Robin and her past/sister: hopefully this chapter gave you some clues for that.  
the quarantine is gonna be a big thing in the future, so keep an eye out for it!  
IM SO SORRY FOR HURTING HIM PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. D:  
nice! I'll be sure to check out your stuff when/if you upload them, they sound great!  
hope you liked the chapter…. *whispers* im so sorry this chapter was utterly brutal**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 29, 14h ago:**

 ** _I can't even describe my emotions and this wasn't even supposed to be that bad. I thought Ace and Luffy were gonna meet and then Luffy gets destroyed knowing something happened to Sabo.  
But, thanks for the chapter! Can't wait till the next update._**

 **Sorry for giving you Emotions. Well, not really sorry at all, but you know ;)  
I hope you liked this chapter, thanks for reviewing!**

 **ariririsu, chapter 29, 11h ago:**

 ** _GOD FUCKINF DAMN IT WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE ACE AND LUFFY PARALLELS YOU PIECE OF ABSOLUTE SHIT I A AND YOU DID NOT NEED TO STEP AND TWIST ON MY FUCKING SOUL YOU BITCH  
FUCKING HELL GIVE ME A GOD DAMN SNAKE SO I CAN SUCK IT DRY AND DIE  
Lucfer49 was a little difficult to solve honestly, but when I said it out loud, I was like: Oh.. Well shit, son, this makes sense now.  
The only thing I'm a little perplexed at is the fact that there's another 49 and who it could possibly be. I could re-read it all over again and still miss some details, but that's just probably my own issue for staying up until fuck-o'clock in the god damn morning to read this fic. (Not complaining, mind you.) I don't send reviews when I'm piecing things together, just to let you know! ;)  
but fUCK, AGAIN? I DONT WANT TO BE BACK ON THAT FUCKING CLIFF  
*grudgingly accepts fate and sits down by the cliff with a glare*_**

 ***hands snake cautiously* I love you I'm sorry for doing this…..this chapter's probably gonna be worse  
49 is confusing? Yeah lol it confuses me too don't worry. but it will be explained, have no fear!  
I hope you like this chapter! *hugs***

 **Guest, Chapter 29, 7h ago:**

 ** _The quarantine is still there then, I'm thinking Law ties into that somehow, and Thatch seems okay hopefully he'll remain that way.  
Who is Angel and how come both Whitebeard and Robin know? Is Robin getting her memories back?  
I loved how you made the connections with Ace's arc and Luffy's sureness, I really can't wait to know more and the POV change is getting nearer. Thanks again for this wonderful story._**

 **Heya!  
I was reading this review and literally choked on my drink at the thatch part. I'm a horrible person. Forgive me.  
Who is angel? Good question  
thank YOU for reviewing! ily!**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 29, 6h ago:**

 ** _ASDFGHJKL I'M SCREAMING I LOVE CHAPTERS LIKE THIS I LOVED ALL THE PARALLELS BETWEEN ACE'S ARRIVAL AND LUFFY'S ARRIVAL I LOVED LUFFY SCARING THE SHIT OUT OF THE REVS WITH HIS ENTRANCE AND WE FINALLY HAVE A NAME FOR ROBIN'S HALF SISTER (is she an OC or is that a nickname?) AND LUFFY FINALLY KNOWS ACE ISNT WITH THE REVS AND WE GOT TO SEE MARCO AGAIN AND THATCH IS GONE AND SOMETHING IS UP WITH THE REV HQ (I'm so sad oh man... I remember Ace was so enamored with this little town that was actually happy and I might be wrong because Ace was in a few towns but I'm pretty sure the people actually told Ace to be careful when he went roof hopping but that may have been Kaira I forget wHOOPS) and the quarantine zone is still in effect all these years later which means the people are probably dead. Don't say this chapter is short! its 5,000 words! that's longer than most of my chapters! also thank you so much for the nice words about my story, that chapter was so important and was the big reveal of the story that i edited over and over again TuT *hugs back for 7 hours*_**

 **HI FRIEND I'M VERY GLAD YOU LIKED IT AND ALL THE PARALLELS AND SHIT. AND OFC LUFFY SCARED THEM ALL. HE'S A VERY SCARY 15 YR OLD I KNOW.  
are you sureeee angel's robin's half sister?  
yeahhhhh you thought that chapter was sad? Cant wait for you to read this one lmao  
no need to thank me about what I said about Control, it was true! I'm loving every bit of the story. It's awesome. *continues to hug***

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 29, 4h ago:**

 ** _See Ace, if you would have stayed with Whitebeard then you would have been with Luffy a lot sooner._**

 **I know, right?! What an idiot lmao**


	31. 2-15 - Marching

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **and we've come to the end of the luffy arc! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **And the SABO ARC IS COMING SOON! LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK HAPPENED TO HIM, LAST CHANCE BEFORE IT'S FULLY REVEALED**

* * *

 **Chapter 31 – Marching**

* * *

Sand is hot and unforgiving beneath her bare feet, lapping up her ankles, and Haley uses her fingers to wipe sweat from under her eyes. A drought like this hits the west every year, like clockwork, and this year it feels even more severe than usual. The ex-revolutionary can't let it slow her down, however. She's been in the shadows for too long, and can't stay there when the war of the century is thrown into motion. Her once long, curly black hair is reduced to little more than a scruffy crew cut, shorn tight to her head to cool her down in the heat – it doesn't do much good.

In the distance thunder rolls, and she curses under her breath. A tropical storm is the last thing she needs right now; it would just stir up sand, and she knows from personal experience that sandstorms can be the death of somebody in a place like this. Speeding up, Haley feels her face heat up under the humid, burning sun. Her throat rasps with every breath, in desperate need of water. This isn't glamorous, or cleansing, or anything like how it's written in books. This is completely different from anything the teen has ever felt. It's exfoliating, scraping clean every part of your identity and sweeping it away over the waves of sand.

However, no matter how painful this, Haley has to move forward. Dragging one foot after the other, every move feels like carrying the weight of a hundred suns on her shoulders. How long has she been walking? She doesn't know. She's close to forgetting why she started walking in the first place.

Abruptly, the girl's stomach rolls and she falls, the ground swinging up to meet her. Bitter bile burns her throat and her eyes water as she struggles to stay consciousness, on her hands and knees, heaving. Vomit around her mouth that she doesn't have the energy to wipe away, Haley struggles to her feet, tears of frustration hitting the sand beneath her. Every molecule in her body feels strung tight, stretched to breaking point. The heat itself is blinding. This place is enough to drive anybody insane.

As a distraction, she thinks about home. It's been a long time since she saw Cocoyashi, and a long time since she saw Leo, too. They didn't know each other well despite being from the same island – not until the revolutionary army recruited both of them. Even then, they weren't close. But the mere thought of Leo _feels_ like home. It's a strange kinship hat she's never considered in detail. She thinks about Ace, too – the reason she's travelling at all. He'll certainly be going through a rough time of it right now, but at least, Haley reasons, he's alive.

And so, locked up in her thoughts, Haley marches on to see another day.

* * *

"Scum!"

A fist pounds into his jaw and he yelps, the back of his head slamming into wooden boards. For a second, the boy can see stars. Beneath him, the ship lurches and his head spins in tandem with it, and as he massages his jaw gingerly, he can hear jeers ring through the room.

"Look at this 'un, boys!" Another kick hits him in the stomach, a steel toe sinking into sensitive, bruised skin. They boy keels over, gritting his teeth, determined not to make a sound; but it doesn't deter them. Somebody grabs the boy's arms and yanks them behind his back, pulling him from his knees, and his body is limp and pliable in their hands as somebody grabs his hair and yanks his head up by it, straining his neck and making his scalp sting harshly.

Beer-soaked breath invades his senses, hot and clinging to his skin. The boy looks up through watering eyes to see the blurred figure of a man holding a mug of ale, swaying slightly on the spot, face a pantomime of malicious laughter. "Ya' heard what I said. You're dead when we get to the south, boy! And there's no doubt about it, eh', fellas?!"

A roar of assent rises from the surround crowd, and somebody crows, "Look at 'im! He's cryin'!"

And, indeed, the boy can feel tears hot in his eyes. His head hangs limply, like a marionette without its strings, and he can feel his aching chin against his chest. Something wet drips down his cheek and to the floor, and the man holding his arms back barks out a laugh.

They have their way. Eventually the hoard gets bored, moving back onto the deck and leaving the fourteen-year old tied up and bloody. He manages to pull himself together, slipping out of the sloppily-tied knots easily and wiping the blood therapeutically from his face. The room – a storage cellar, floor littered with tankards and the butts of cigars – is dark, hidden from the light of day outside. It feels like years since the boy has seen the sun. Maybe it has been.

Wiping the last of the blood and snot off his face with his sleeve, the teen lies down in a corner, curled up like a cat and facing away from the wall. The floor is cold beneath him, and he can feel his thin frame shivering. It's hard to believe that this has been his life for the last five years. Feeling his eyes start to drift, he reaches up suddenly to feel the brand on his neck, the skin still rough and numb there even after all this time. They've tainted him, and in more ways than one. The brand is by far the most obvious one.

Sniffing and burying his face in his knees, the eastern child falls into a restless sleep, dreaming of his older brother.

* * *

A crisp gust whirls through the room and the curtains billow, letting the dim light of the evening flood into the room. The sudden wind stirs up dust that he hadn't known had settled, and it floats through the shards of light like a light, thin snow. Dragon's eyes land on it without really seeing it as he sits at a mahogany desk, silhouetted in the light from the crack in the curtains, thoughts whirling through his mind at a far more frantic rate than the lazily falling specks of dust that surround him.

The Revolutionary Army are on the move – at least, that's what his sources are telling him – and it's honestly no surprise. They haven't shown kindly in the past to people threatening their members. Even if what's happening hasn't been released in the newspapers yet, their intelligence division is almost as good as Dragon's own. No doubt they'll risk it all to stop this from really going ahead; but something tells Dragon that Newgate, the man at the very top, knows that this is more than just about Ace. This is the climax of the war that's been brewing for decades – the rebellion thrown against the government, north against south. This is about more than dispute.

This is a turning point in the war.

"Dragon-san?"

Koala's voice calls from the other side of the door to his office, startling the revolutionary leader out of his thoughts. "Come in," he says in reply, watching Koala open the door and march in, holding a pile of papers. Her hair is messy and not as sleek as always, and there's a worn look about her that suggests that the last couple of days haven't allowed her much sleep.

"The Revolutionaries have apparently sustained a large amount of damage over the last few days, sir. Their base was partially destroyed – or at least, the island it's on was – and our sources report that one of their commanders has been killed. He strayed too close to Stormy Down, and people are saying he got sucked in. If he's not dead already, it won't be long before one of the savages in there gets him, they think. He's a man called Thatch."

"Yes," Dragon replies wearily, "I know him. What news do we have on the other major players?"

Koala sits across from him, and folds out one of the papers in her arms to reveal a large, heavily detailed map with a full circle topped by an oval at the top – their symbol. Laying it out on the desk, the teen points out different areas as she talks. "Shanks started moving a few days ago; typical of him, to know what's going on before anybody else. Blackbeard's apparently skirting the southern fringe, but he doesn't look like he's heading to Marineford. Yet. The Navy are amassing their forces at Marine HQ, which leaves a lot of southern territory unguarded." Her tone is meaningful, and Dragon picks up on it.

"Send a message to Ivankov, if you can. I assume he's still at experimentation base twenty-one?" Dragon asks, in a tone that implies that he already knows the answer.

"Yep. Hopefully they'll make it out in time to join us at Marineford." Koala bites her lip suddenly, looking nervous. "Dragon-san… Are you sure this is the best option?"

"You mean using all of our manpower for one incident?" Dragon asks in a deadpan voice. "I know what you're thinking, Koala. I know participating seems detrimental. But this execution – and all of the players who are participating in it, on one side or the other – could topple the government for good. You know what that prophecy says."

"' _His sons will bring the world to its knees_ '," Koala says, almost trance-like, as if she's said those words over and over again and knows them off by heart. "Yes, Dragon-san."

"I'm expecting a call from Newgate soon enough. Is there any news on Robin?"

Koala's face softens. "She's heading our way. Apparently, after Blackbeard and the others found out that she was one of us, they tried to trap her in Water 7 while it was bombed. But you know Robin – she could get out of anything. She used the amnesiac excuse on some revolutionaries as far as I know – though we don't know much about the group – and got away. She should be here in a few days."

"Good." Dragon cracks a rare, small grin, rough around the edges and harsh in appearance but very sincere. "It's been hard to keep up without my second in command."

Rolling her eyes and hopping off the desk, Koala replies, "As if it was really that difficult. How long have you been doing this now, Dragon-san?"

"Far too long. Now I've got to make a call – I'll talk to you later, Koala."

Recognising that she's been dismissed, the girl smiles and walks out with a spring in her step, suddenly not looking so tired. This job, even at times like this… It's a place where she can really thrive, Dragon realises. The same applies to the rest of AANGEL; maybe it even applies to him.

Suddenly, the den-den mushi at Dragon's side goes off with a 'purupuru-purupuru'. It's the leader's own personal one: in fact, less than ten people in the world have this number at all. It's most likely Whitebeard calling. Picking up, Dragon says, "Who is it?"

"Dragon! No need to sound so grumpy – it's just an old friend calling."

The voice has a smirk engrained into its very tone, and Dragon finds himself bristling at the sound of it. Outside, the sky seems to grow darker, and wind sends dust curling back into the air.

"Doflamingo. What do you want?"

"Oh, I only wanted to check up on our… agreement." The other man gives a slightly mad sounding laugh.

"Is this really the best time?"

"I believe I'll be the one to make that call, _cockroach_."

Dragon grits his teeth. "You know the deal. Is my son alive? Will he be at Marineford?" He keeps his voice low. Every word he says has the sensation of walking on a tightrope.

"Yes, yes," Doflamingo replies waspishly, as if the entire conversation is boring him. "And when you get the signal, you'll still do as we ask?"

"So long as my son is alive." Dragon can hear the desperation in his own voice, and it makes his insides curl with loathing.

"Then you have a deal." Doflamingo laughs again. "I also have news that my rather troublesome daughter is heading in your direction. Kids, huh? I believe you know of her. Would you mind ripping out her throat if you come across her?" His voice turns vicious for a second.

"You're disgusting."

"No, Mr Hare, I'm just playing the part of the quick fox." Doflamingo's face in the den-den mushi is grinning horribly, mouth so wide that it doesn't seem human. "Goodbye now!"

The line cuts off with a 'clank', and Dragon is left alone in his office, jaw clenched, wondering just what drove him to do what he's about to do.

* * *

"Luffy?"

The teen barely hears Usopp's voice over the wind in his ears. Up here on the figurehead of the Moby Dick, Whitebeard's ship, the salt spray has soaked his clothes and the sound of ocean gust is a symphony that rings through his heart.

Luffy doesn't turn back to look at the sniper. "Yeah, Usopp?" His voice sounds strangely dark, as if it isn't his own.

"Whitebeard wants to talk to you – about some prophecy, and the 49 thing." Usopp's voice is shaking slightly.

"Tell him I don't want to hear it," the captain replies immediately. His voice and his voice alone rings out over the deck. Everybody else is down below deck, making plans or devising tactics for when they reach the south. "I don't care about some stupid prophecy. I just want to save my big brother."

Usopp is silent for a minute, and Luffy can feel his stare, before he finally answers, "O-Okay." His footsteps retreat, and Luffy is left alone again. He considers the last couple of days. It doesn't feel like it, but it's only been twenty-four hours since they first arrived at Revolutionary HQ. Since then, three of the crew have left, the Merry was destroyed and it's been revealed that Ace is-

Luffy chokes down what might be a rising sob in his voice, or a yell of frustration. Why can't the world just let he and his brothers be together again? He doesn't care about the motives they have for doing this to Ace. He cares for nothing except reuniting with his family now – everything else has gone to the wayside.

"I'll be there soon, Ace." His tone still sounds foreign, almost drowned out by the wind. Luffy's voice drops to a whisper. "Just stay alive for now."

* * *

Law glances across to the other side of the tiny raft, unimpressed gaze landing on the only other occupant. Sanji's head is buried in his hands, and his shoulders are still shaking with adrenaline even though it's been a good few hours since they left. He looks utterly pathetic.

"When are you going to stop sulking, Black Leg-ya?" the surgeon finally asks, giving a pointed sigh.

"As soon as the mark disappears, I'm jumping right into the ocean and swimming back to them," Sanji's muffled voice replies. After a second, he looks up and lifts his fringe, making eye-contact with Law. "Is it still there?"

Law sighs, taking in the faded brand above his accomplice's covered eye. "Yes, it is. Though it has faded a little more."

Sanji sends a longing look the way they came, and says, "Do you think I could…?"

Shrugging, Law leans back and pulls up his hood. "Do whatever you want – just don't drag me into it. As long as that mark is still there, they can still control you at any time."

Sanji shoots the other teen a penetrating look, eyes narrow, and states, "You don't seem to mind that we just betrayed the crew too much."

Law smirks, but there's something sharp in his eyes. "They're hardly my biggest priority right now, Black Leg-ya. You know what the Foxes have over my head. All I want to do is get Cora-san away from them, and I don't care what I have to do to achieve that." A moment of silence flies past, and the only sounds that fills the air is the creaking of their small lifeboat. "Say, Black Leg-ya – did anybody in Luffy-ya's crew see your mark in the end?"

"Stop calling me Black Leg – that's just some stupid code name the Foxes gave me. That's not my name." Scowling, Sanji looks away. "The shit-swordsman saw it once in a storm. I think he always knew that something was wrong, but he didn't say anything. Hell if I know why."

A lull in conversation arises again. As the sky above begins to darken, Sanji stares across the water with regret and anxiety churning in his heart. They still have control over him, but not for long. The mark was guaranteed to fade when he finished his mission – incapacitate one of the three brothers and make sure he reached the Revolutionary Army before that. It should be gone any time soon, so long as the Foxes held true to their word, Sanji should be free to go back to the crew and attempt to explain himself at some point.

But for now, all he can do is wait and pray that Luffy, stabbed and betrayed by one of his oldest friends, will live long enough to see him again.

* * *

Blood covers his hands.

Sabo knows what blood looks like better, perhaps, than anybody. He's kneeling on the ground, knees stinging as rocks dig into them, and the world around him is dark and still. That's how it always is here. It's like being in the vortex of a hurricane or the centre of a vicious whirlpool – silent, still, deaddoing here or what this place is. The storm clouds above are occasionally pierced by bright, silver light, but mostly remain dull and lifeless.

The scarlet all over his hands, mixed in a grotesque, marbled pattern with mud, isn't his own. It's the only colour in this place. It feels pure, like the kind of torture that takes away everything you are. It's already eaten most of what makes up Sabo, so much so that he just-

His eyes dart to the side. There's a body lying, covered in the strange scarlet-black concoction, a few feet away. Their face is covered in it, eyes wide open and unseeing. No, Sabo realises with morbid fascination, _eye_. The other has been clawed out and lies a few feet away, staring at Sabo and deep brown in colour. The dead man's hair is limp and soaked in grime, and the elaborate pompadour he wore when he first appeared is strangely half burnt off, as if somebody tried to light him on fire.

 _Did_ _I do this?_ Sabo finds himself asking, not really wanting to know the answer. _Regret_. At least there's still _something_ human about him, seeing as everything else has vanished without a trace with this place.

He doesn't know how long he kneels there. It stays silent and cold, and the sun fails to rise or set. In this place, he realises in a passing thought, you aren't much more than your primal desires. You're little more than a killing machine. But still, a tiny part of him longs for-

 _Freckles and silver eyes. Messy hair and a toothy grin. Brotherhood._

-For something far away, out of his reach and only barely clinging to his memories.

At some point, Sabo ends up on his back, looking up at a darkening sky. There's blood in his mouth now, and the fire in his gut is gone.

The storm above rages on.

* * *

"No! Don't, _stop_!"

Ace's voice rings loud and clear through the cell, but the girl in front of him doesn't pause. Cruelly slowly, with malice in her eyes, the guard uses her sword to saw through the string holding Leo's beads together. One by one, they drop to the floor. With the slant of the floor, they roll towards Ace and he tries desperately to snag as many as he can with handcuffed wrists, holding them tightly and curling up his knees to keep them cradle d in his lap. Each feels like a piece of Leo being thrown to the floor without a care.

One scarlet bead hits the floor and cracks in too, and Ace struggles harder. "Stop it! Please stop it, they're all I've got!" He knows that the pleas are no use, but he can't sit and do nothing as the beads his old friend cared about are broken into pieces. He manages to rescue nine or ten, but the others lie broken on the floor, shards littering the wooden boards. The ones he did manage to catch he holds closely to him, fiercely protective, scowling.

The guard, luckily, decides that she's had her fun. With a sweet smile that he doesn't believe for a second, she slips out of the cell. Her form is lit up by the light outside and for a second, Ace can see her _third_ eye glinting maliciously in the dark. Then the door slams, leaving him in the dark with nothing but a few broken beads for company.

Feeling bitter tears sting his eyes, the revolutionary therapeutically slips each bead into the pocket of his pants, cuffs chafing his wrists. Each bead brings forward a new waves of pain with the movement, but he feels far more secure with the small balls inside his buttoned pocket, pressing against his skin and offering the strength that he took them for. With that finally over, Ace leans back and lets the back of his head hit the cell wall, crossing his arms in his lap.

Is this how it's going to end? Lying down in some cell, dying of starvation before he can even reach his execution? He never even found his brothers. Ace is a failure, and he's certainly feeling that way right now. He's been through the motions – frustration, anger, grief – since he got locked in here. Now, for the first time in his life, he can't feel anything but numb. The burn on his chin aches in the cold.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers into the dark, "Luffy, Sabo…"

A bitter smile quirks the corner of his lip, holding no happiness. Ace closes his eyes, hopelessness finally washing over him, unknowing of the flood of people heading to Marineford. Unknowing of what his execution's going to bring.

"For once, I really wanted to live."

* * *

 **END OF PART 2**

* * *

 **Phew!**

 **Guest, Chapter 30, 2h ago:**

 ** _So many mixed emotions in this chapter, I loved the reunion between the loguetown 3, I enjoyed seeing Zoro take charge and at the same time show he's human but Sanji's betrayal really hurt, as for Robin while she left she also gave them the book and Scarlet being her sister was such a surprise. Poor Marco and poor Thatch, and it looks like what we'll learn about Ace isn't good either... brilliant chapter and you're very welcome for the reviews it's the least I could do_**

 **Hey!  
I'm glad you liked the chapter and the reunion! (I was worried I hadn't pulled it off). I don't have much time to reply, but yeaaah, poor thatch! Expecially after this chapter…  
talk soon, thank you so much for the review! Ily!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 30, 8h ago:** **  
** ** _-inhuman screeching- ALL OF MY EMOTIONS. THEY HURT.  
_** **  
Tetsik, Chapter 30, 9h ago:** **  
** ** _No. Words.  
You've done it. Broken me. n._**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 30, 13h ago:** **  
** ** _YO WHAT  
ROBIN WHY  
LAW  
SANJI  
LUFFY MY POOR BABY  
Update~_**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 30, 18h ago:  
** ** _fuck you. and fuck my life._**

 **I put all of these reviews together because honestly they made me laugh so much I love you guys. I also feel very powerful. Just a little bit :P**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 30, 19h ago:**

 ** _I'm crying? I'm crying. This was fucking astounding this was the wildest chapter to date and you fUCKING KILLED OFF THATCH I'M SO UPSET AND ROBIN BETRAYED THEM AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE /FUCK/ IS GOING ON WITH SANJI AND LAW, BUT ACE HAS BEEN FOUND AND I HOPE TO GOD HE'S OKAY BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T REALLY SEEN HIM SINCE HIS ARC AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE SABO AND I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY GLAD LUFFY DIDNT DIE. Also nice plot twist on the whole Robin sister thing (Ps Robin you have a niece! and, not gonna lie, I've been waiting for the Nami/Haruta/Zoro reunion for like ever and it was so sweet it was everything I've ever wanted and more I'm so happy bUT DONT FORGET I'M STILL CRYING CUZ THATCH IS DEAD AND SANJI IS MISSING BUT WE'RE FINALLY GOING TO GET TO SEE SABO? RIGHT?_**

 **Don't have much time to reply cause I'm in a rush but I'm glad you liked it! And sorry for hurting thatch! D:  
so sorry for the short reply but I really do have to hurry now bye! Ily!**


	32. 3-1 - The Gut of Davy Jones

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **SAB ARC LETS GO**

* * *

 **Chapter 32 – The Gut of Davy Jones**

* * *

As soon as his mark fades completely, a sense of freedom seems to overtake Sanji that Law has never seen him manifest. He turns from the older teen with fire in his blue eyes and, without a word, dives into the ocean. As he comes up spluttering and shivering, barely managing to keep his head above the water as he struggles to swim with one arm, Law considers going after the cook. Eventually, however, he decides against it. His main priority is to get back to the Foxes' base, get Cora-san and get the hell out of there.

As Sanji struggles away, not looking back and fighting desperately against the tide, Law watches him fade into a speck in the distance. Soon, the sky above the silent, lonely ocean begins to darken. The surgeon notes, bored, that the air is tense and pressurised. Thunder rolls like war drums on the horizon. The incoming night has a strange sense of anticipation. It takes Law a while but eventually, he starts to notice that the raft – until now only manned by his oars – is being pulled by a rather sudden, alarming current to the east of him.

Frowning, the teen picks up his oars and begins to row harder, something about this new development giving him an uneasy feeling. This new undercurrent feels like something he should recognise – something that sends a particularly familiar jolt up his spine – but he can't recall just what's making him feel so on-edge.

Law's discomfort only rises when, no matter how hard he rows, the raft is only pulled more rapidly in the other direction.

His heartbeat starts to pound in his head, dozens of hammers beating into the walls of his skull, and he can feel his pulse start to race. Rowing harder still to no avail, Law curses under his breath, panic starting to seep through him like poison. Quicker and quicker with every passing moment, waves sweep past the underside of the raft and it rocks dangerously. The ocean rushes past, black beneath him, and Law gives a grunt of frustration when he realises that his rowing is doing absolutely nothing to stop the pull of the current.

Suddenly, in the dim light of dusk, the surgeon's squinting eyes catch sight of something strange in the water ahead, in the direction he's being pulled. The water itself is moving abnormally, pulling inwards from all directions, and Law's jaw drops open in horror when he sees that it's forming a wide, deep hole in the ocean that expands with every second he looks at it. The sea itself seems to be splitting open, the fabric of it tearing at the seams, exposing a veritable black hole that drops down to who knows where.

Law makes a split-second decision. Taking a deep breath and making sure he's holding Kikoku tightly, the young man dives off the side of the raft and into the raging ocean, swimming frantically away from the monstrous whirlpool. He can feel the current pulling at his arms and legs, water stinging with salt in his eyes, and the world around him is a dulled, claustrophobic rush of blues and greys. The only sound he can hear is the roar of the waves from below the surface. Law can feel his body being pulled back and struggles hard. Water rushes into his nose and ears.

Kikoku is ripped from Law's arms and a million emotions hit him at once – anger, frustration, shock and even a little grief. He's had that sword for a long time. Running out of air, the young doctor kicks frantically for the surface, knowing that he's getting closer and closer to the vortex of the whirlpool. He breaks the surface for a split second, heaving and gasping and shaking, before the tide pulls him back under and his mouth fills with water. Law can feel himself being spun around and around like a rag doll, thrown every which way in a tight, uncontrollable circle with the motion of the whirlpool, and starts to choke on the salt water filling his lungs.

Suddenly, with a jolt, Law is thrown into the vortex of the whirlpool – that wide, dark void between the waves. For a second he hangs suspended on empty air, sensation leaving his body, the dark blue of waves raging in a dome around him. Then everything speeds back up. The sky falls away above him as the whirlpool collapses in on itself. Law falls, lurching and spinning through the air, watching the ocean pass him by as he plummets through what feels like a portal to hell.

The walls of water rush inwards, and Law's vision goes black.

* * *

The world returns slowly. Law's entire body aches; down to the bones, he can feel pain flood him in a way that feels like a bus has just hit him. Or ten. Slowly, gingerly, he peels open his sharply stinging eyes to look blankly up at a darkened sky.

Funny. The last thing Law remembers seeing is the ocean itself burying him after the whirlpool to end all whirlpools swallowed his raft. The surgeon lets memories rush through his head, blinking slowly up at the churning clouds. Did the water truly deafen him? There's no sound in this place – not even the hum of the tide, or the faint calling of birds. The earth itself seems to have stopped spinning. Even as Law watches lightning flash through the clouds above, masked eerily in mist, he hears nothing. Even his own breathing is silent-

The doctor lurches upwards, disorientation ruling his senses, and clutches at his heart desperately. He tries to breathe in, throat convulsing, but can't draw breath. His heart is still and cold beneath his hand, and Law realises with blank horror that his skin is cold and lifeless, soaked with seawater and tinged blue. He reaches up and feels his way along his face, hands shaking as they touch skin as cold as marble. His hair is coarse and a few strands fall out at his touch, as if it's been resting in saltwater for years.

Law's _dead_.

Finding something slimy and most definitely dead on his cheek as he touches it, Law flicks the thing off and finally musters the will to look around him, eyes darting. It's still horribly silent. Above, the blue-tinged sky still crackles with silent lightning. The open sky stretches out, wide and uninterrupted, for miles and miles in all directions. Below it, the landscape is barren and bare. Law is lying in the middle a cobbled road – no, a crossroads. There are four directions he could head in, all four consisting of a single straight, cobbled road leading into the distance and out of sight. Aside from the four roads, the ground is bare and flat, coated in dust. There is little light in this place.

Suddenly, a loud scream echoes through the air from far in the distance. It's so piercing, so clear, that Law could have sworn it came from right next to him. The young man stumbles to his feet, feeling his damp hoodie clinging to his skin, suddenly feeling incredibly small. He stares in the direction the scream came from, before paranoia grips him and he whirls around, eyes wide and a yell hovering in his throat, sure he felt a light touch on his neck. There's nobody there.

Law stands stock still for what must be over five minutes, waiting for _something_ to come out and grab him, every sense and instinct on high alert. If he was alive right now, his heart would be pounding fiercely in his chest. Abruptly, the doctor finds himself consumed by unexpected thoughts of the Strawhat Pirates – what they're doing now. Has Sanji found them yet? Is Law ever going to find out? His heart has stopped beating, and he's not drawn breath in hours. Every logical part of the Gift-user knows that he's dead. So why is he still around? What is this place, and how did he get here?

No answer comes, of course, and eventually Law is forced to move. There are tender spots all along his arms and legs that feel exactly like bruises, but the skin itself is flat, bluish white, slightly translucent in the dim light. Law does his best to examine his body – maybe just in an attempt to distract himself from his situation – as he takes a deep breath and starts to walk briskly along one of the four roads; the one opposite the direction the scream came from. He can't take any risks in this place.

By the light, it looks to be around dusk, or maybe just before dawn. However, as Law walks, the sky above doesn't change. The utterly silent storm, miles and miles above, carries on. The world around stays dimmed and dull, hanging on the edge of night. The only sound is the quiet pat of Law's feet on the cobblestone path, and the rustle of his wet clothing. Surrounded by bare, soundless terrain, the doctor feels far too exposed. With every step, he's sure he's being watched. Anything could come at him at any second, and Law would have no way to defend himself. Without Kikoku, the most he can do is try to use his Gift, and even that would be risky.

The eerie silence wears on. Time is indefinite. The same bare, open world moves past Law at an agonising pace, and soon he begins to doubt whether he's moving at all. In front of him, the road stretches on and shrinks into the distance. Behind him, the same view meets his eyes. Did Law turn around? Is he still going the right way? The unending silence and sameness of it all threatens to drive him insane. Law has to resist the urge to yell out just to make sure that _he's_ still here. Something tells him that that would draw unwanted attention.

Eventually, however, a speck alongside the road appears in the distance. Law picks up his pace, hope leaping in his chest, desperate to make sure that it's even real. Soon, determining that it isn't just his eyes playing tricks on him, the doctor's jog speeds up to a run. The road blurs under his feet, and the sky above cracks with lightning at an even more rapid pace, seeming to play in silent symphony with the sound of his footsteps. The brown blur grows closer with every second.

Eventually, Law comes to a halt in front of a rotten old wooden sign, torn and weathered, the word written on it barely legible. He reaches out to wipe a little dust off it, curious, and raises an eyebrow at the word engraved on the aged wood. ' _Loguetown'_.

Loguetown. The first place to be bombed, signifying the beginning of the Eastern Terror, four years ago. The home of the Loguetown Massacre, which has only one documented survivor – notable revolutionary Portgas D. Ace, who is one of those on the 'Undesirable' list of the Foxes; not a good place to be. All the information Law knows about Loguetown flits through Law's head, and he's so caught up in his thoughts that he almost doesn't notice the small, silver object hovering on the corner of the sign. However, it twitches and his eyes dart towards it.

A tiny, glowing silver butterfly is perched on the wood, wings twitching every so often, exuding the most light that Law has seen since he got here. Even the lightening seems dull in comparison. On instinct, the doctor reaches out to touch the instinct, hand outlined in its light. However, just as his hand hovers an inch from it-

Something whispers in Law's ear, so close that it might as well be in his head. _Don't touch me,_ it whispers, and Law freezes. He can feel warm breath on his neck. _Don't touch me, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to. Don't touch me_. The voice is perfectly blank, void of emotion. Then, something pinches the back of his neck hard enough to draw blood.

With a yell, Law stumbles back, whirling around to see who whispered and pinched him. There's nobody there. His yell echoes around, far too loud and too clear for Law to be comfortable. He reaches up to feel the stinging spot on the back of his neck. The skin there is broken, something having dug into it deep enough to rupture the flesh, but there's no blood. The cut feels dry and rough.

The butterfly spirals up into the sky, light intensifying. A soft voice rings out, fading as the bright entity gets further and further away. _Don't be like them. I'm sorry. Don't touch me_. The chilling calm of it doesn't fail to make Law shiver and he watches, almost entranced, as the butterfly flutters into the sky and through the clouds. Soon, it fades out of sight, and the world seems that much darker for it.

Law has his trepidations about moving on from this spot, uneasy about going back to the same dull world without any sign of difference between one mile and the next, so instead decides to take a small break. He has no idea how long he's been walking, but he can suddenly feel the fatigue lying heavy in his bones, the exhaustion weighing on his eyelids. Law settles down against the post of the sign, back flush against it, staring unseeingly up at the churning sky.

Everything is silent so, granted, it should be easy to fall asleep. It feels like Law is underwater. The lack of sound, the foaming, churning motion of the dull blue-grey sky. The dust beneath him reminds the doctor of Edgetown. Uneasy, lungs still screaming for air that they can't receive, Law falls into a restless sleep, terrified of what tomorrow will bring.

* * *

Something pokes Law's cheek. "Hey, d'ya reckon he's alive?"

A man grunts indifferently, and his moody voice says, "Don't know, don't care. Chances are that if he's not moving, he's infected. Let's move on – we need actual survivors, idiot, not just psychos."

Deciding to move now before it's too late, Law springs lightly to his feet in one fluid movement, fists clenched in front of him. He knows little about hand-to-hand combat, but the little knowledge he does have will have to suffice. Once his vision clears, the young man is met with the sight of four or five figures in a circle around him, all of them looking at him curiously. He takes time to examine each of their faces in turn, as they look him up and down as well.

The one closest to him must have been the one to poke his cheek. A girl around Law's age, she has bright pink hair, a harsh face and painted red lips. She's smirking, white teeth on show, and is wearing a scuffed leather jacket and shorts. Her black boots look like they could walk all over somebody. A little behind her stands a man with scarlet hair sticking up like flames around his head. He's tall and menacing, a brute in figure, and scowls when Law meets his eyes. The scar running down his face and over his left eye contorts. He crosses his arms aggressively, one flesh and one looking like it's made out of the contents of a metal trash heap.

On Law's other side stand three other people. One is an older man with a thin scar over his eye and white hair, arms crossed, looking strangely relaxed. His sharp silver eyes take in everything around him almost lazily, and there's a sword at his hip. Beside him is a tall, white bear, standing on its hind legs and wearing an orange jumpsuit. It flinches when Law levels it with a heavy stare, wide black eyes like marbles. The last one is a man (or, Law considers, something akin to a man) with deep blue skin and gills, curly black hair pulled back off his face. He has two large front teeth that protrude up and out of his mouth, and looks altogether calm but menacing.

"Who are you?" Law asks, voice as calm as he can keep it, realising absently that he's still shivering. His skin is still tinged blue, and the same applies to the five strangers (or, at least, the three humans among them). He stays in fighting stance.

"We're asking the questions 'round here," the man with scarlet hair replies, still scowling. His clothes are ripped and torn, dusty from the amount of time he must have spent here.

"Ignore Kidd, he's an ass." The girl with pink hair leans in, staring at Law's face intently, and he resists the urge to squirm. "Doesn't look like he's infected to me. Look, his pupils are normal sized."

"Heh. Sure, we'll trust your judgement," the old man says without heat, stepping forwards and raising an eyebrow at Law. "How many days?"

"How many days- what?" Law takes a subconscious half-step back, conscious of the sign at his back. "Since what?"

"He means, how many days has it been since you got here." The strange fish-like man with gills steps forward, nodding to Law cordially, though it's obvious by his stance that he's ready to fight at a second's notice.

"Oh. Two days," Law bluffs, taking a wild guess even though he doesn't really know, not willing to look like an idiot in front of these people.

"Alright, so we're the first people you've met?" asks 'Kidd'.

"Yes, Kidd-ya." Law regains his cool. He's used to bluffing his way through situations like this. "What is this place?" he asks, glancing around, willing to sacrifice the all-knowing exterior for a second in order to find out where that whirlpool dumped him. "The last thing I remember is being in a raft, and then…"

"A whirlpool opened up?" the girl asks, flatly. "Same for all of us – well, 'cept for Kidd and Bepo." She exchanges glances with the rest of the group, a grim expression on her face, and when she turns back to Law, her face is harsher than before. "Welcome to Stormy Down. I hope ya' like it, 'cause this is your home now."

* * *

Law walks with their group without invitation, and none of them turn him away. As they walk, the ragtag band take it in turns explaining to him just what this place is. Slowly but surely, as he listens, betrayal starts to spread like an infection through Law's blood.

"Well, I guess if you want to look at it simply, this place is a trash bin," Bonney says, sweeping her pink hair back into a scruffy ponytail. "Not that I'm calling you trash – well, actually, I am. Anyway. Nobody really knows what this place is or where it is, but most of the time, the people here have pissed off the government. More specifically, they've pissed off Doflamingo. We're people they want to pretend never existed so instead of just killing us, they trap us in some hellhole and let an infection loose to kill us off."

Her explanation has plenty of holes and Law thinks over it for a minute, eyes downcast. He knows what this means. It was always only a matter of time until Doflamingo finally discarded him, Law's known this for a long time, but the sting of betrayal is still fresh and aching. The only fear Law feels at the revelation that the leader of the Foxes has discarded him is what's going to happen to Cora-san. They only ever kept the man alive to get Law to do what they wanted. Now that Law is out of the equation, they might kill Cora-san just to be rid of him.

Pushing the pain and worry that causes from his mind, Law glances across at Bonney. "What does the infection do to people?"

"Basically?" Bonney grimaces. "It takes away pretty much everything but anger and fear. The infected are pretty much just killing machines, tearing people apart with their hands if they have to. They aren't really people anymore, I guess. There's no cure – at least, there's no cure that Bepo's been able to find. You can always tell that somebody's infected because their pupils bleed."

"Has anybody ever managed to escape?"

Rayleigh snorts lightly. "Not even close. Everybody who gets sent down here wakes up on the crossroads, and if you walk far enough, you just end up right back there. This place is inescapable."

Law feels like saying something like 'no place is inescapable', but doesn't really believe it himself. Instead, he nods mutely, running his hand through his hair and feeling a few clumps fall out. "How long have you been here?"

"Hasn't anybody ever told you not to ask questions?" Kidd growls, but the others ignore him.

"I've been here three or four years now, I think," Bonney says flippantly. "Ray's been here the longest. Seven years now, right?"

"Since this place was created, yes," Rayleigh says with no discernable distress. It doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

"Me and Kidd have been here for a year now," Bepo says, speaking up for the first time. His voice is soft and timid. "Most of the people here used to be revolutionaries, like us and Bonney."

"Or fishmen," Jinbei speaks up, sandals clacking on the cobbled road. Law is glad for the background noise, as it seems to draw attention from the horrible, hovering silence that surrounds them. "The World Government decided that we were taking up too much of their territory about six years ago. Here was the only place for us."

Law has heard of fishmen, no matter how much they've been covered up. The little he knows about them contradicts this whole situation entirely. "There's no water here. How did you survive?"

Jinbei turns away. "Most of us didn't, Law-kun."

There's a moment of tense silence, before Kidd asks gruffly, "So what did you do to get shoved in here, Trafalgar?"

 _Think fast, Law_. Rolling his eyes at the passive-aggressive tone to Kidd's voice, the doctor sighs and says, "I'm in the Revolutionary Army. We've been causing a lot of trouble for Doflamingo and his task force recently, especially my division."

Bonney, Kidd and Bepo all perk up. "What division do you command?" Bepo asks.

"Second," Law says, before wincing internally as all three exchange dubious looks.

"If you're in command of second, what happened to Ace?" Kidd asks suspiciously. "He's alive, right?"

"Yes, he's alive," Law says hurriedly, thinking on his feet. "He left earlier in the year. Nobody really knows why."

Bonney pins him with a calculating look for a minute, before sighing and rolling her eyes. "Alright, alright. Look." She turns to look at Bepo and Kidd. "If Ace is anything like you've told me he is, he's fine. He's probably off doing something nuts, and he'll be back in no time."

Bepo nods and Kidd says nothing. Neither look too happy, but they don't ask any more questions. Bonney turns back to Law and says, "I told you about Stormy Down. Now, tell me how Marco's been doing recently. I've missed being his subordinate, a little."

Law opens his mouth, planning to lie his way out of this one too, but before he can, Rayleigh says, "Something up ahead!"

The group turn as one, and Law squints to make out a dark blur lying on the side of the road in the distance. Rayleigh picks up his pace to a brisk jog and the others follow. Law follows slightly behind, not willing to run where he can't see the group just in case they try something. You can never be too careful. As they draw closer, Bonney growls and pulls a scratched, rusted pistol out of her waistband. Law doesn't doubt that she can fight without it, but it must make things easier. "Infected! Looks like they got to somebody. We must be near the crossroads."

The group slow as they get closer. There are two figures on the floor, one kneeling and one lying face down. The one lying down is obviously dead, hair matted with blood, almost lying in a pool of it. The one beside him is wearing tattered, blue clothes. His eyes are dull and his pupils, Law realises with a thrill of recognition, are blown out and overly reflective. His blonde hair hangs in clumps around his head. His hands are soaked in crimson.

"Alright, I'm going to put it down," Bonney says, all business, eyes hard.

As she raises the gun, however, Law says, "Wait!" The girl turns to him, annoyed.

"What?"

"Look." Law points to the blonde man's shoulders, which are heaving as he draws in harsh, deep breaths. He's _breathing_ , something that most definitely isn't supposed to happen here. "Is that normal for the infected?"

"No," Bonney says, voice full of wonder, looking at something she hasn't seen in four years. "It isn't."

Things only get more confusing when Law takes a small step closer, hands stretched out in front of him and ready to run, and catches sight of the triangular tattoo on the blonde's wrist. The tattoo he put there.

"Sabo-ya," Law mutters under his breath, as thunder continues to crackle silently above. Sabo's eyes are dulled and dead, as black as beetles. The side of his face is covered in gruesome scaring that stretches down his neck and over his body, out of sight beneath his clothes. Their gazes meet, and everything seems to freeze. Awareness flickers through Sabo's eyes for just a minute before they drift shut and he falls forward, still breathing heavily, still somehow _alive_.

* * *

 **Phew! Sorry that took so long, I got sick D: but I'm feeling a lot better now! Thanks for sticking around, people, ily**

 **3D.2why, Chapter 1, Jun 26:  
** ** _oh lord, I disappear for one day and this is what happens *sighs*. So about sanji, robin and law are gone. Yes DRAGON IS HERE WHOOOOO! Holy shit maybe Sabo became a part of that group? Anyway Sanji and Law are both from the North Blue so I guess theres something there. (cont…)_**

 **Hey!  
your theories are pretty interesting. Some are pretty cloooseee I think? Don't quote me on that. And yeah, what was rebecca's mom's name again? Hmmmm I wonder. You should look that up.  
Jinbei! I actually almost did forget him in this fic for a bit lmao. But don't worry, he's here now!  
Thanks for reviewing! *whines* I have so much to answer. And I love it I really do but wow  
talk soon! Ily!**

 **3D.2why, Chapter 30, Jun 26:  
** ** _oh and THATCH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO_**

 **HA im so evil lmao**

 **3D.2why, Chapter 31, Jun 26:  
** ** _okay, whoah. I just reviewed about two secs ago and now there's a new chappy? Anyway this chapter about a tone of things. SABOOOOOO is at stormy deep or whatever they call it and may have killed thatch. Doflamingo has a daughter, Dragons son might be Ace, (cont…)_**

 **Heyo again!  
yeaah sabo's not doing great rn…  
my reviewers are split into two sects right now: 'sabo is dragon's son' and 'ace is dragon's son'. I wonder which is true? Hmm~  
I hope they reunite too! Though whether they actually will is another story entirely.  
Ahhh you caught my pudding reference! *offers cookie*  
I'm not quite sure ace is in stormy deep though…  
a ton of people have guessed the boy's identity. None of you are right lmao**

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 31, Jun 26:  
** ** _Aw shit! I hoped I'd have enough time to review ch 30 before you decided to update. Fuck exams! So I'll be brief, hope you'll forgive me for breaking my promise (you must think- she sounds a bit like Ace huh?) (cont…)_**

 **Hey, it's fine that you couldn't review! Exams suck, I know. Also that ace joke just about killed me, so thanks for that.  
of course luffy'll take him back! He's ****_luffy._** **  
I'd like to encourage you to consider a few differences between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'. I mean, yes , AANGEL are a revolutionary association. But does that give them a good moral compass? Is it really split into good and bad? Many questions~  
okie dokie, I'm grounded ;-; *sulks in room*  
talk soon! Ily!**

 **Guest, Chapter 31, Jun 26:  
** ** _Just the fact that you reply is enough so don't worry about it being short. So many questions, where is Haleh going? Who is Doflamingo's daughter? Is the prophecy referring to Ace and Sabo, and if it is I can't wait to see how they turn it around because one seems to have lost it (cont…)_**

 **Heyo! Yeah, where's haley going? Good question. Hopefully you'll find out soon. Ish.  
yeah, poor thatch… I was soo mean to him.  
don't worry, nobody can think of the eastern boy. I completely doubt anybody will.  
take care, thanks for reviewing, I hope you liked this chapter!**

 **Guest, Chapter 29, Jun 26:  
** ** _Just wondering, but when you said to find something that the person who wrote the law of effect wrote, did you mean Animal Intelligence? or Human Nature and the Social Order? Or the Original Nature of Man? Or Human Learning? Or Individuality? Sorry... (cont…)_**

 **Holy crap you lost me. You know a lot more about thorndike than I do! I can tell you that as far as I know, it's none of those things. Try to look up theories he's written, that should help!  
as for the law of effect part – yes, yes it could!  
I'm really glad you liked the chapter, stay tuned! Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Red-Hot Habanero, Chapter 30, Jun 27:  
** ** _Law, Sanji NOOOO!_**

 **HAHA I'M SO MEAN WTF**

 **Red-Hot Habanero chapter 31 . Jun 27  
** ** _Sabo lives!  
But it doesn't look like Ace will though.  
Wait if Luffy is Shanks' son, does that mean Ace is Dragon's son. If not then who is it?_**

 **YEAA, sabo's alive! And damn right, ace might not be for much longer…  
damn, I mean, it's not like there's anybody else amirite?  
heh**

 **ScandinavianTrash chapter 31 . Jun 27  
** ** _Doflamingo's daughter- child why must you do this to me  
Yay Robin and Sanji are not totally bad  
Who the heck would Dragon's son be if Luffy isn't- child what are you doing- please (cont…)_**

 **Heyooo!  
yeaah, so many mysteries! Dragon's weirdo kid! Sanjoob and binrob being strange but not completely evil! Doflamingo's weird kid too!  
AHAHAHAHAH I KNOW I CAN'T WAIT TO TEAR YOU ALL APART WITH THAT BIT  
nah, I didn't really sleep no  
talk soon! You're the best honestly ily *smothers in hug***

 **ariririsu, Chapter 31, Jun 27:**

 **hey!  
holy CRAP this is such a long lovely review I love you? Thank you! So I'm going to split it into bits and answer each bit on its own, if that's okay. *freaks out about the awesome review*  
** **  
** ** _I fucking knew it. I fucking knew that Ace's disappearance has something to do with an execution and about the 49 legacy. So, here's what I got so far, and I'm sure I'll be wrong on some parts of this._**

 **alright, here we go. *rubs hands together* I'm ready!**

 ** _Haley, who is Doflamingo's daughter heading over to Dragon's base, and Pudding were both a part of the Whitebeard Revolutionary Army working as sources for Doflamingo. However, Haley forged bonds with her squad, Leo and Ace's, which made her want to dissociate herself from her father's organisation because Doflamingo has a motive._**

 **Liking it so far. Very logical. Not completely accurate, but I love your train of thought and nearly all of it is right.**

 ** _I've been assuming for the past few chapters that the fox symbol was his, so I got that right, thank goodness; which means that his organisation is a part of the 49. Since the other 49 didn't have a period, I've come to assume that it would be AANGEL. However, I'm still thinking of the possibilities of what 49 would be. I knew that 49 is kind of a double entendre where one's real and one's not (and you even told me that I figured it out!), which leads me to believe that Doflamino's the darker side of this so called 49 while Dragon's is, like AANGEL connotates, the better side. But, no, that's not it. There's something missing. Doesn't quite make sense to me.  
49 organisations? Seems a little far fetched to me.  
49 sons or daughters? 49 people involved in the prophecy? 49 Will of the D's?_**

 **Your theories about 49 are really good, but none are quite there yet. I'd suggest heading back to look at chapter 24. That's where I've dropped most clues. What if 49 itself isn't a way of counting things or people, but a symbol? What if it's something from the past that the world tried to cover up?**

 ** _There are only 9 people in the canon world who bears the Will of the D. It wouldn't make sense to have 49 people have it too. But say if it's actually not a whole number, and just two separate numbers sitting next to each other... Would the 4 be the organisations? God, this is killing my brain. I'm sure I've gone way past what you probably plan it to be, haha._**

 **Keep guessing! Your theories are good, but again, not quite there. Yet.**

 ** _I mean, it's obvious that Luffy, Ace, and Sabo are the main objectives of this prophecy. Seeing as part of it says that "His sons will bring the world to its knees" is what makes Dragon do whatever he wants or needs to do, all I could get from that is: either the ASL brothers, in which both Ace and Sabo (because of the Gift) are Dragon's sons, are the three sons mentioned in the prophecy, or they're actually not, just three boys destined for something and are the key to a much bigger revelation; so he's most likely trying to prevent it from happening (but Doflamingo and the marines are absolute bitches). And, from what I'm thinking, all three of them need to be in the same place for it to happen. Marineford._**

 **NOW you're on the right track! Holy crap, you're** ** _really_** **on the right track now! For more of a clue, I'd suggest examining the core of AANGEL and its aims. It aims to stop non-criminal executions of gift users. Simply put, it aims to stop people from being killed just because of who they're born as. Now, consider this: what if it wasn't just brining the world to its knees? What else can the word 'world' be taken as? The world government, as paranoid and shrewd as they are, would surely shoot down any possible threat to them. What if 'world' really meant 'world government'?**

 ** _And Sabo's right next to it._**

 **…not quite as on-track, but sure.**

 ** _(I don't know if you're writing it much like the canonical story is, but you keep saying Stormy Down instead of Impel Down. Well, Impel Down, Marineford, and Enies Lobby are in a triangular pattern and the middle sits a whirlpool. That's Stormy Down, isn't it? But the marines may or may not know about it because nobody ventures to the middle of it. Anyone who does are known to have died after all, and anyone lucky enough to survive dies. It's the perfect place where Doflamingo could keep his captives. And let them rot and die. But not before driving them to the brink of insanity. And the best thing to ever happen to him so far is to have Sabo in his clutches, alive yet not, right next to the place where everything will unfold.)_**

 **…some points in here are right, others wrong. There'll be more geographical exposition soon enough, but simply put, stormy down is in the no-man's land between north and south. The three major marine strongholds are all in the south. Is it really logical to have them that close together? However, the part about doff using it as a prison – bang on. You got it. Bravo.**

 ** _Ugh. I'm just gonna stop here, so let me get out of my famously calm mood here and say: wOW YOU FUCKING DICKWAD FUCK YOU FOR MAKING SABO KILL THATCH YOU GOD DAMN BITCH, I HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU GET CANCER YOU MOTHERFUCKER YOURE THE REASON WHY GOD DOESNT TALK TO US ANYMORE  
(but actually pls dont)_**

 **Awww *pets, offers tissues* it'll be okay. Or not.**

 ** _ugh im just gonna sit down and maybe cry for a day or two  
maybe forever_**

 **I'm very mean, yes. Thanks again for the long review! It means so much, ilysm!**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 31, Jun 27:  
** ** _this chapter man... i dont even know what to say there is so much going on... Haley is Doflamingo's daughter, doflamingo leads the foxes, Ace is being executed, Sabo greatly injured Thatch but thankfully aslbrosyo is very kind and would NEVER kill off such a sweet (cont…)_**

 **hey! It's three am and I just answered the hella long review before yours, so forgive me if I'm not coherent. Ugh. I'm so tired.  
yeah, there was so much going on! And yeah…..totally,..,,,, he's ****_totally_** **not dead. *coughs* yeah  
more mysteries! As for the kid – well, let's consider. Who are the older males we've met from the east? I can tell you that it is not law, for one. Can you think of any others? I can tell you, we met him. he and ace were quite good…friends.  
I'm glad you're excited! I'm excited!  
thanks for reviewing! ily, also control is HECKIN AWESOME I SCREAM EVERY TIME YOU UPDATE THANK YOU YOU AWESOME AUTHOR CRYPTID PERSON**

 **ariririsu chapter 31 . Jun 27  
** ** _Also! An additional thing I found out about the Gift thing.  
So, okay, it's true that Sabo was beaten up, left almost for dead. If it wasn't for Dragon sealing a deal with Doflamingo, Sabo would be dead (cont…)_**

 **hey again!  
once again, parts of this are true, parts aren't. I want you to think about doflamingo as a person. He's not a nice man. he's willing to lie to get what he wants. Is it possible that doflamingo lied about having dragon's son? It's certainly possible, at least.  
the second part – DING DING DINGGGGG BINGO! Yes indeed you're doing great! Genius! Gold star! *presents ceremonial gold star sticker*  
talk soon!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 31, Jun 27:  
** ** _-assumes fetal position and laughs quietly- I don't know what's happening to my children and it's killing me slowly~  
But seriously. This whole story is a mystery (cont…)_**

 **Awww, I'm so mean I know. Don't worry, you'll know eventually! Hopefully…  
I'm glad you're liking it! That's what I'm here for!**

 **ASL chapter 31 . 5h ago  
** ** _I found this story and read the entire 31 chapters in several hours. I could not put my phone down. I love the universe and twist of characters. This story is intriguing and well written, filled with suspense. Keep up the amazing writing-I can't wait for Part 3!_**

 **Aw, thank you so much that's so nice! It means a lot to get reviews like this :D I hope you like part three and that you review again, ily!  
talk soon!**

 **Laludofan, Chapter 31, Jun 27:  
** ** _WOOOO SO MANY THINGS TO SAY *-* I'm sorry for not reviewing sooner.. I had exams TwT But now they're FINALLY OVER and I feel freeeee~  
On to the review ! (cont)_**

 **Hey! It's fine that you couldn't review, I'm glad your exams are done!  
halo! You're the one person who picked up on the halo thing! Congrats! Now, tell me, what's related to halos?  
*casually skips over your doffy theories, whistling* they seem cool and accurate  
pfffft yeah zoro jeez  
yeah.. that scene was my mistake. I forgot to write in her gift. Sorry! maybe I'll redo it when I have time  
the girl is *checks papers* not koala! Nice try tho  
I'm glad you're liking it! I'm tired as hell and need to sleep right now, but the drawings were lovely. Goodnight! *flops on you* I love youuu. And im so tired oh my god**


	33. 3-2 - Death Valley

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT:**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **honestly tho guys I'm so sorry this is so late. I'm a piece of trassssh sorrry**

* * *

 **Chapter 33 – Death Valley**

* * *

"Thatch!"

Just as Sabo slumps forward, darkened eyes rolling upwards in his skull, Bonney's shout breaks through Law's whirling thoughts. The girl runs forward, closely followed by Kidd and Bepo, and kneels beside the dead man, turning him over. His eyes are glassy and unseeing, the front of his chef's costume grimy and brown with dried blood. One of his eyes has been gouged out, and the void where it once was winks up at Law like a black hole, embraced by the scar that curves around it. His jaw is broken, like a hinge that's been snapped off. There's a gruesome hole in his chest, between his ribs, and the young doctor can make out a few ribs poking through the flesh itself.

"Commander Thatch…" Bepo says quietly, and his small black eyes fill with tears. Law has a few spare seconds to piece together the situation. The three actual revolutionaries know this man, and Bepo called him a commander: it's safe to say that if Law really was a commander, he would know him too. He has to grieve. Law doesn't know enough about Thatch to have a conversation about the man and not blow his cover, so the best option would be to go into shock. Nobody asks you questions when you're in shock.

Letting his features fall into a horrified, nauseated mask, Law takes a small step forwards, and Bonney meets his eyes. Her own are filled with regret and deep grief, but still hold a harsh edge, and they search Law for every scrap of emotion they can find. After a second, she turns away with a small nod, and he knows that he's managed to convince her. After years of working for the Foxes, the surgeon is used to pretending to be what he isn't.

Rayleigh and Jinbei hang back and let the trio and Law have a moment. It's obvious that Bonney knew the man the best, as she has to swipe tears from her eyes a few times. When Kidd asks gruffly if she's okay, she says 'shut up!' and sniffs hard, before standing with a resolute look on her face. Her painted lips curl downwards into a deep scowl, and she wipes blood and dust off her hands and onto her shorts. Law's face is still horrified, eyes riveted to Thatch, and Bepo and Bonney both shoot him sympathetic looks. Even Kidd smacks him on the shoulder as he stands.

"You seemed to recognise the infected one. Who is he?" Rayleigh asks, stepping forwards. His tone holds no sympathy. Law meets his eyes and knows immediately, just by the challenge within them, that he's seen right through his grieving façade. Rayleigh has a sharp intelligence in his eyes like that of a hawk. He's

But Law refuses to submit to it. He's willing to parry it tenfold, if he has to. You don't survive for as long as _he_ has by being an idiot.

"He's from my home island, Rayleigh-ya," Law replies coolly. It's not a lie – just not the whole truth, either. "I haven't seen him in a few years."

Just to be sure that it really is Sabo, the doctor cautiously takes a small step forwards, past the dead body on the floor and past the three revolutionaries. The blonde's shoulders are still heaving but his eyes are closed, face pressed into the dry dust below. The silence on the air presses down on the small group, and thunder churns above for a second, throwing the gruesome scar across the teen's face into sharp relief. Sabo is barely recognisable now, looking nothing like the thirteen-year old who asked Law for a tattoo and ran through the forest with his brothers, laughing and yelling. The image of his beetle-black eyes, pupils bleeding out into the whites, flashes through Law's mind. So much has changed.

Law kneels down, rolling Sabo over and raising his wrist. There it is – the triangle, with the three primary colours making up each side, symbolising something beyond what Law knows. The ink itself is engrained into tanned skin - skin which lacks the unhealthy blue tinge that the rest of the people here have on their own. Undoubtedly, Sabo is somehow alive in a place where all others have died. Somehow, he's metaphorically breathing underwater. His wrist is hot in Law's fingers.

How this could have happened, Law has no idea. But strangely, something about Sabo's predicament sends a thrill of hope up his spine. Some part of the young doctor believes that the blonde teen, an anomaly within even a hellish place like this, is the key to getting out. The thought comes unsanctioned, without consent, but once it's there it refuses to leave.

"It's definitely him. And he's definitely alive," Law says, still not standing. He can feel stares burn into his back.

"What should we do?" Bepo speaks up, sounding timid and unsure. Law doesn't have an answer. For a second, silence reins, tense and anticipatory.

Then, Kidd steps forward, surprisingly taking the role of leader in this situation. He doesn't seem levelheaded enough to be a true leader in Law's eyes, but then again, _Luffy_ leads his own pirate crew. Kidd can handle it.

"Let's tie him up and take him with us, see what we can do. If he's breathing… I mean, it's gotta mean something."

"Yeah… Yeah, okay." It's the first time Law has seen Bonney agree with Kidd since he met them. Her eyes, red-rimmed, have something dark inside them as they look at Sabo.

The others nod, all looking uncertain. As Kidd pulls off his overcoat to tie Sabo's wrists Law wonders, for the first time since he got here, what the future holds. Doflamingo trapped Law here – he's been backstabbed, betrayed in every sense of the word. They have no reason to keep Corazon alive anymore.

Law has no cause left to fight for.

* * *

The group walk for hours, passing Sabo between them every so often as they go. All of them, even the lithe Law and Bonney, are strong enough to shoulder his weight for half an hour or so. Before they set off, Kidd made sure to gag and bind Sabo thoroughly, and his grimy chin feels hot on Law's shoulder as he takes his turn carrying the teen. Nobody speaks. The air, silent and still, is left unruptured by speech. From his place near the front of the group, Law can feel Rayleigh's eyes burning into his back.

How long they walk for, the doctor doesn't know. The lack of breath in his chest still disconcerts it, and Law wonders in a passing thought whether he'll ever get used to it. It's a strange kind of emptiness, and if he fixates on it for too long, he can feel panic start to slowly poison his veins. Sabo's breathing on his skin feels foreign, too hot to be natural, too intense for this place. Every step jolts the blonde a little more, soon settling him in an uncomfortable position, but Law doesn't complain. He learnt a long time ago that complaining won't get you much.

Subtly, Law glances over at the others. Bonney still looks shaken by what happened back there. Thatch's blood is caked under her nails. It laces Bepo's fur too, dark under the twilit sky. Though Law never met Thatch in life, he did hear of him. Fourth division commander – a fighter and a chef, merry in character but damn _terrifying_ when fighting. Of northern origins, he was tied up a little with the Marines when he was younger but has been a member of the revolutionaries for almost two decades. With his notable strength and position within in rebellion, it's no wonder Doflamingo would have pulled him into this place when he had the chance.

Law suppresses a small shiver, glancing down momentarily at Sabo. If, unarmed, he was able to kill somebody like Thatch… the doctor would probably do well to be cautious around the infected teen. This infection must be one of the only illnesses he hasn't ever encountered before, and he has no idea how to start healing it.

"Something's up ahead."

Rayleigh's voice snaps Law out of his thoughts and his head snaps up, squinting into the distance. Sure enough, on the line where the horizon meets the earth in the distance lies a speck of colour – a dark brown blur, nothing more, but something noticeable within the dullness of this world. Beside him, Jinbei tenses up. Law moves to speed up, like he did with the sign, but the fishman catches his arm before he can. The group have come to a halt now.

Law turns, raising an eyebrow, Sabo still slung across his back. "What is it?"

The group, in unison, move slightly closer together. The realisation hits Law suddenly – they've been travelling together through this hellhole for years. People like Bonney and Rayleigh, who've been here the longest, work together like a well-oiled machine.

"You were lucky with the sign earlier," Bonney mutters, voice suddenly lower. As if anybody could be listening in. "Most of the time, buildings and landmarks in this place don't spell good news. Have you seen the butterflies yet?" Her eyes flash. "Did one bite your neck?"

"You mean the silver butterfly that tells you not to touch it?" Law shoots back, holding back a snort at the bizarreness of it all. "Yes, I saw one when I first arrived." Suddenly, he remembers the pinch to the back of his neck and grimaces internally. He can't say anything – not yet. "It didn't bite me, no."

The other five exchange startled looks, and Rayleigh narrows his eyes. "The silver butterfly, yes. But… none of them ever ask people not to touch them. They can't talk; they're butterflies."

Law's face heats up and he holds back a scowl, muttering some excuse about being tired. The others continue to stare, some looking concerned (Bepo) and others suspicious (Rayleigh). The young doctor coughs. "So what do we do about the place up ahead?" he asks, just to change the topic of conversation.

It works. "Let's approach slowly," Kidd speaks up. "If we meet some other survivors, maybe they can give us some hints about what to do with blondie over there."

The rest of the group nod in agreement and as one, they turn back towards the blurred shape. Foreboding sends a chill down Law's spine. They walk at the same pace but when they get closer – Law can now make out that the shape is some kind of building – Bonney gestures at the others to slow down. "Keep quiet," she hisses, eyes riveted on the building.

Surprisingly, however, the group make it towards the building on silent feet with no incident. This place seems deserted. They round the grimy wooden building to face it from the front, and Law takes it in quickly – a primarily wooden house, humble in size. Its architecture reminds him of Edgetown and the east, less modern than that of the northern and southern areas. The butterfly from before is nowhere to be seen. Lightning blazes across the windows, behind which curtains are drawn tightly.

The feeling of being watched but something out of his reach intensifies, and Law has to resist the urge to look around him, convinced he's being followed. It's the same kind of paranoia that constantly filled him when visiting the Foxes' base. A dulled terror, hanging on the edge of panic.

Kidd draws a shuddering breath, looking surprisingly shaken. "Let's check inside. Split up and check the rooms. If it's clear, we'll tie him up and spend the night."

Law nods, meeting Kidd's eyes for a split second before they make their way inside, single-file. As the others split up – Bonney slipping upstairs with her pistol, Bepo heading down the left corridor, Rayleigh going right and Jinbei following Bonney up – Kidd stays behind with Law, hovering slightly too close, a scowl on his face. Law scowls right back, shifting Sabo on his shoulder.

"Listen. I know there's something… _off_ about you. We all do. And whatever shitty lie you're trying to feed us isn't going to work." Kidd's irritable tone is low and quiet. "You're stuck here now. Either you live on, or die here by our hand. _My hand_. Got that, punk?"

Law snorts, holding his nerve. Compared to even somebody like Cora-san (and _he_ wouldn't hurt a fly), Kidd is pathetically weak. It's laughable. "If you wanted to intimidate me, you should have remembered to do up your fly beforehand, Kidd-ya."

It's a childish insult, sure, but Kidd yells in alarm and as he's distracted, Law moves across the hallway in the direction Rayleigh went. It opens up onto a small living room, bathed in a warm, sepia light. This room has a strange air of sentimentality. There's a newspaper on a low coffee table in the middle of the room, and two couches are placed on either side of it. Dust coats the furniture in clumps, and some of it swirls up into the air when Law drops Sabo unceremoniously onto one of the couches. The blonde teen doesn't move, wavy hair falling across his face.

Law picks up the newspaper and examines it. The top right-hand corner reads, _'Earth-year 420_ , _November 11_ '. Just under seven years ago. It's a government supplied paper, which tells Law that it was supplied before Blackbeard took over. The top of the paper reads, 'The Loguetown Press'. He scans the article. There's nothing there of interest. Grime obscures most of the words, and the paper is dulled and cracking with age.

At the bottom of the newspaper, however, somebody has written the word 'HAPPY' in block capitals. Pink crayon covers the lower half of the article. The first few letters are well written and neat, but by the time it reaches the Y, the lettering is shaky and close to illegible. Law feels his eyebrows rise.

Suddenly, a wave of frustration washes through him like a rough tide – harsh, foreign and not his own. It lasts a millisecond, but Law notices it easily. It pulses across his skin like an electric shock, and then it's gone, leaving Law standing alone in the room with the strange paper in his hands. The feeling of being observed is back, stronger than ever.

"Oi, pissbaby, what are you standing around for?"

Kidd's voice suddenly echoes from the door and Law flinches minutely, looking up from the paper in surprise. The other young man shoots him a deadpan look and says, "Bonney and the others have gone out to get food. We didn't find anybody – no thanks to you, you lazy ass – but we did find a few beds. You and blondie are sleeping in here."

"So when he wakes up, he eats me first?"

"So when he wakes up he eats you first, yeah." Kidd snorts derisively, turning to leave and muttering, "You're gettin' how things work around here."

Then he leaves, and Law is left alone once again. He stands for a few seconds, staring down at the 'happy' on the paper, before making a decision in the space of half a second. He doesn't know where it comes from. But the sudden realisation comes in a flash – Cora-san is dead. Doflamingo has killed him, without a doubt. The only cause left for Law to fight for is revenge. If he can avenge Cora-san, force Doflamingo to win this war, he needs to bring down the Foxes. Bring down LUCFER49.

And in order for that to happen, Law needs…

The doctor's eyes snap to the side. He needs one of _his_ sons. He needs one of the ones destined to bring the world to its knees. One of the only ones Doflamingo ever feared.

He needs to get out of here, and he needs Sabo.

* * *

Sabo wakes very slowly, and doesn't open his eyes. For a while, he's alone with his thoughts. All sensations in his body feel muddled, as if somebody has messed with the hardware that holds his very mind together. His fingertips feel very warm, almost as if he's using his fire, and he can feel his heartbeat in his chest – it's strong and fast, surprisingly so considering he isn't moving. There's something soft beneath him, but he can feel the cold of the room he's in and has to resist the urge to shiver.

This definitely isn't Base 34.

And where's Ace? Sabo can vaguely feel his presence, although it feels like it's shrouded behind a veil. That, at least, manages to calm Sabo down. Ace says nothing, however, and Sabo's mind is silent. He can barely feel Ace unless he looks for him. They feel a world apart from each other, and Sabo hates it, but doesn't know how to fix it. Right now, even opening his eyes feels like it would be impossible.

What happened? Sabo searches his memory, desperate for any shred of information. He can't feel Ace very clearly but what he can feel is weak and pained. His brother is hurt. _Shit_.

The last thing Sabo remembers clearly is going to bed at Base 34. He wished Ace a sleepy goodnight, exhausted from training, and then- Well, then everything is a blur. He has a vague memory of somebody's hands on him in the night, pulling him by his ankles off the bed and to the floor. He cried out for Ace, for anybody. Their hands felt hot, burning the skin around his feet. His head hit the floor, and consciousness was stolen from him in an instant.

Right now, however, the only real pain Sabo can feel is in the back of his neck. It's centred around the top of his spin, and has the kind of sharp pain that makes it feel like somebody has plunged a knife into his skin. Trying to distract himself from it, Sabo attempts to take in more of his surroundings. The air smells musty and feels thick on his skin. The lack of sound is almost alien. The only thing the ex-soldier can hear is his own soft, rhythmic breathing.

Suddenly, a floorboard creaks alarmingly close and an annoyed voice says, "You can stop pretending to be asleep now, Sabo-ya."

Sabo jumps, eyes flying open, scrambling backwards. The memory of hot, rough hands on his ankles is all too clear. Around him, the room is a dulled but warm colour. He's lying on a couch, eyes heavy with sleep. The one who spoke is presumably the one standing to the side of the couch. He looks around Sabo's age, with dark hair and features characteristic of the east and startlingly yellow eyes. His skin is an unhealthy colour, tinged with blue and near translucent, and he scans the other with eyes that are more than a little cautious. His body is lined with tension that tells Sabo one thing – he's waiting for something. Waiting for Sabo to do something.

Suddenly, a memory hits him and Sabo recognises the other young man in an instant. His voice sounds impossibly loud in the silent room as he yelps, "It's you! The guy from Edgetown who did our tattoos! What-" His voice, rasping and cracking from misuse, falters. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The tattoo artist makes a frantic gesture that seems aimed to make Sabo lower his voice, glancing up at the ceiling. A floorboard creaks for a second, loud in the silence, before the stillness returns once more. He and Sabo stare at each other for a second, both wide eyed, before Law takes a small step forwards. His hands are raised to show that he means no harm, but Sabo is still tense and ready to run at a second's notice. The silence is still incredibly disconcerting.

"My name is Law, Sabo-ya." Law speaks in a soft voice, as if communicating with an injured animal, but there's nothing tender about it. "Do you know where you are?"

Sabo stares for a second, silver eyes boring into yellow, before slowly shaking his head.

"Alright. You understand me. Good." Law runs a hand back through his hair. "What's the last thing you remember?"

Sabo coughs, throat rough, and says, "I was at Base 34, in the south. Getting dragged out of my bed, I think. And then everything's just sort of… a blur." He glances around, feeling goosebumps spring up all over his bare arms. The soldier's garb he's wearing is ripped and bloodied. His top hat is nowhere to be found. The room they're in is quite dark, with no visible windows and one closed door. A newspaper lies on a coffee table. "Where are we?"

Law grimaces, sitting down on the other couch. "Have you ever heard of a place called Stormy Down?"

Sabo feels his eyes go wide, his back becoming more rigid, and he slumps back a little against the arm of the sofa he's been laid out on. Yes. He has. The whirlpool in the no-man's land between north and south from which nobody emerges. Death Valley. Doflamingo's prison.

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Law sighs and looks down at the ground. "Well, welcome. Me and my group found you here, infected. And I think I managed to heal you."

"Infected? Sorry, what?" Sabo can't keep up with all of this.

Law sighs again. It's the first time Sabo has heard him breathing, he realises in a passing thought. "This place has an infection going around it which takes away all forms of higher-level thinking. From what I could gather while examining you, it affects the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, causing most emotions to give way to pure instinct. The instinct to kill. I had a theory that it was caused by some sort of bite to the back of the neck, as I've started to feel its effects myself, so I borrowed some medical supplies from a member of my group and operated. This used to be inside your neck."

Law reaches across the table, flipping up the lid of a small black box Sabo hadn't seen before. Holding it between his thumb and forefinger, he pulls a thick, black thorn from inside. Sabo winces at the size of it. It's hard to imagine that that thing was inside him, much less that it held some sort of mind-controlling qualities.

"So you're saying that I've been wandering around _Stormy Down_ for god knows how long, infected like some- some kind of zombie… and you just healed me, just like that? Some random tattoo artist I haven't seen in years?!"

"It's more than that. You're breathing, Sabo-ya. And that doesn't happen here."

Sabo gives an incredulous laugh, and it holds no humour. "So you're saying that you aren't breathing. That you're dead. You-" He freezes, in the middle of scanning the doctor with his eyes, face melting into shock. "You're not breathing."

"Yeah," Law grimaces, "I know."

Sabo opens his mouth to say more but before he can get a word out, something creaks upstairs and the sound of footsteps reaches both of their ears'. Sabo and Law exchange looks and the latter, quick as a fox, pushes Sabo back down onto the couch. Before Sabo can even react, the doctor is tying his hands tightly with cloth and has shoved a gag over his mouth, muffling any sound he might try to make.

Pure panic immediately consumes Sabo's senses. He thrashes, muffled yells barely pushing past the gag across his mouth, frantic. Law has to shake his shoulder hard just to get his attention.

"Sabo-ya! You need to listen to me. I'll explain everything, I promise, just please play dead. Just lie still. I'll explain it all but _I need you to lie still_."

The urgency in the young man's voice is enough to make Sabo pause, at least. Outside, the footsteps grow closer. They meet eyes one last time, something hot and intense burning between the pair, before Sabo nods and, knowing that he'll probably regret this later, closes his eyes.

Just in time. To his left, a door opens.

* * *

 **Sorry this took so long! I was travelling, and then hit a pretty bad bout of writer's block. Hopefully this is good enough to make up for it.**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 ** _I'm screaming? of course Sabo is an abnormal infected, why would he be anything else? of course Ace thinks he's dead... he is technically dead although at the same time technically not. I'm also so happy to hear the kind forgiving author is going to save Thatch because author doesn't want to rip my fucking heart outalso if ffnet removes it there's a smiley face there. I'm glad to see where Kidd and Bepo ended up, along with some new characters! We've got our travelling group all together now so I'm excited to see where their adventures lead, and how we're going to follow the epic execution plot going on in the living world! also just thought I'd mention that I love your whole crossroads and infected idea, it's a really interesting type of purgatory_**

 **Hey! (just wanted to let you know before I answer: CONTROL IS FUCKING INSANE AND I LOVE YOU)  
*coughs* anyway  
yep, sabo's life is fucking insane and it's only going to get insaner. Insaner is not a word. Oh well. nOW IT IS.  
yeah…thatch is toOOTALLY alive after this chapter. Yep. Totally .  
this team is the absolute DREAM TEAM and they're totally going to be a big thing in the future of this fic. I love them.  
you like the stormy down plotline? Nice, thanks! I like writing it!  
talk soon, thanks for reviewing! as always, ily**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 ** _my feels every time  
dear lord sweet old Rayleigh  
And Jinbe aaaaAHHH  
though I think I figured the fic out_**

 **heyooo!  
sorry about your feels! It's revenge for showing me the Sad Fic. And yeah, Rayleigh! I love him sm wow  
AND JINBEI I KNOW RIGHTT  
ooooh you do? Please tell me!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 ** _Law. Law. What. Child I swear I thought you completely killed him and put him in purgatory to choose between life and death and whatnot  
Lmao take me to Stormy Down I'm trash too XD  
You're aLREADY TEARING ME APART BY SHOWING ME SABO DO YOU MEAN THERE'S WORSE ONO  
Child there is seriously a point where you will just collapse and delay your life for a while if you don't start resting properly  
Thanks :3 *hugs back*  
Update~_**

 **Hey!  
purgatory would have been pretty cool and it's actually a plotline I considered for a bit! But sadly, only this really works with the story D:  
YES IT DOES GET WORSE  
I know but…that wont be fore like three years lol don't worry I'm good. I'm… *falls down stairs* im fine  
*hugs tighter*  
talk soon!**

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 **(Wow, long review! I'll answer it in bits :D)**

 ** _Oh wow! Now this chapter gets me thinking. But before that... About E. Thorndike and his Law of effect, you advised us to research what else was written by him. And I figured... it has to be something other than a book because who in their right mind would tell his readers to just "Ya know, read every single book the guy wrote and then come back here and we'll have a talk!". Like... yeaaNO! Apparently something else that E. Thorndike described, and was the first in doing so, is something called "the Halo effect"._** **(BINGO AHHH YOU GOT IT)** ** _  
Basically it says that people describe other people as either good or bad based on their 'halo', which is a defining characteristic that we perceive as either good or bad. Someone classed as good in one aspect will be automatically be given higher grades in other aspects as well. Like... someone intelligent will also be considered a good leader, a more honest person and such. Politicians are a good example of this, they seem friendly so people would trust them, some people even describe it as charisma._** **(You're connecting it all so well? holy shit?)** ** _But how does that connect to your fic?_** **(Hm. Good question)** ** _Perhaps something you've described as good all along is evil, and viceversa. Like... there's no way that the revolutionaries and Whitebeards would be bad right?_** **(Idk. I wouldn't be so quick to jump to say that.)  
** ** _Or Donflamingo is absolutely evil, because that's how we know him. You like to toy with facts like that so really I wouldn't put it beyond you. Anyway, tell me if I'm right or need to keep looking._** **(You're right, but you still need to keep looking lmao)  
** ** _Back to this chapter... WHAT THE HELL IS DOFFY DOING IN STORMY DOWN BREEDING ZOMBIES? That's weird, Law being dead but not quite._** **(yeah ikr)** ** _  
That butterfly, it looks like a mass of consciousnesses(Idk if there's even a plural for this word)? People who'd been there but are no more._** **(hmmmmmm,,,not quite. Youre getting there, though.)** ** _And that Loguetown sign was unexpected, I hope we'll learn more about it soon. Was Law infected by that bite?_** **(hmmm)** ** _Because Bonney and Kidd spoke of an infection and somehow it makes me think back to the quarantine around the Rev HQ._** **(good train of thought but again, not quite. Though the quarantine is really important. If you want to know more about it, I'd suggest observing the main values and aims of both the revs and AANGEL.)** ** _Stormy Down really is a spooky place! Anyway, so here are Kidd and Bepo, two of the missing Second Division squad, and I feel like we'll be hearing about Leo soon enough._** **(he was mentioned in chapter 31 by THREE people, if that helps. Not two)** ** _Seeing Rayleigh was really nice, wherever the man goes he makes me feel at ease because he's strong and most probably has a plan._** **(same here!)** ** _whatever that may be. And one more thing... At some point (in the bonus chapter) you said that that one Gifted person refused to rule people from above and called himself a pirate and started the age of pirates and that many people tried to follow in his 'giant' footsteps. Was he Whitebeard?_** **(good question)** ** _And then you say that there was one man who was infamous for fighting the World Government (as in... a different someone)_** **(you sure? I might go back and change that bit, it is a bit misleading – my mistake)** ** _and his symbol was a strawhat, and that's Roger. So Roger left something for Whitebeard before dissapearing, a legacy of sorts, and it connects to his Gift... I still need to figure that out. Oh god all this makes my head hurt!_** **(same lmao)** ** _I have so many ideas running through my head that I could write a novel right here and now! So I'll just stop here and wait for a new chapter and reply.(Idk what I love more, reading the new chapters or seeing what your reply is to my review)_**

 **Thanks for the long review! And again, I know there are a lot of questions but all shall be revealed soon! I promise! Ily!**

 **Amelia Pan, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 ** _Fun fact, there's also a book named "The Chronicles of a Rogue Angel: Part I: The Halo Effect". But this has nothing to do with your fic, riiiight?  
By the way, on a scale of 1 to 10, how obvious is it that english is not my first language?_**

 ***ding ding ding sound in the background* *struggles to muffle sound so you don't hear it* nope. Not at all. Tooootally not. Nope.  
idk, I don't think I'm the best person to ask! How obvious is it that it isn't mine either? (something I always worry about while writing)**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 ** _I made fanart. Check out your tumblr, I think I tagged strays-fic in there. ;)  
also damn, I knew I was thinking way past of what you had in store for the story! It was still fun thinking up of theories though! Xd_**

 **HOLY. SHIT. THE FANART  
It's so good what the hell? Youre such a good artist! You might have noticed – it's the cover for this story now! :D I legit screamed when I saw it I swear. Honestly I love you thank you very very much I treasure that art  
you weren't thinking past it, actually – in fact, most of the stuff you said was surprisingly accurate! And I love long theory reviews, so I would have loved it anyway even if it was all wrong lmao  
ily! Talk soon! Thank you for the amazing art and reviews!**

 **Guest, Chapter 32, Jun 30:**

 ** _I've been thinking about where Haley could be going and I'm leaning towards somewhere in the south maybe...  
Answers! Sabo is in Stormy down because of Doflamingo but he's still alive somehow even though he seemed infected. The fact that the revs have a quarentine area makes me think they keep those they rescue from there in that area, I hope Law somehow finds a way to help it would help make up for his actions. As for Sanji, I'm pretty surprised the mark really disappeared and how does he plan to find the strawhats, is he just planning to swim to the nearest island?  
Going back a bit, halos are connected to angels so AANGEL in this case, is that how Zoro knows something? I'm so lost here. Thanks again for writing this and again take care._**

 **Hey friend!  
you're not wrong. That's all I'll say about that.  
quarantine! Again, quarantine is pretty important… but who says they managed to rescue anybody? I mean, stormy down is the most secure place in the Strays universe, tbh. What if the quarantine isn't for just infections?  
I mean, what if it's for keeping something more than just an illness in?  
*coughs* said too much  
sanji's being an idiot right now, I know. And it's going to get him into a lot of trouble.  
I'm glad you're lost, that's what this story is for! Talk soon, thanks for reviewing! *hugs a lot***

 **3D.2why, Chapter 32, Jul 2:**

 ** _Great introduction chapter to this arc! I am pretty happy to see Sabo but only you know what the hell just happened. I'm kinda curious as to where the whirlpool came from the people in One Piece who can even do that anyway. Is Sabo Dragon's son or is Ace? Sabo and Ace are clearly related somehow so maybe they got split up when they were born or something so technically they could both be Dragon's son or hell, even Rogers. They have the same birthday, same mark and can talk to each other in their minds. For Sabo not to be able to talk to Ace tells us that he was taken to Stormy Deep on what I'm assuming as a marine for snooping too much maybe and finding something out so he was taken there. In your story there may be something like seastone as Ace and Sabo can't communicate which means the whole of Stormy Deep is ruining their connection or something like that. For a sec I thought that boy who was beaten up was Sabo but I don't think so. You seem to include so many characters hell I wouldn't be surprised if Gaimon (guy stuck in a box with weird animals) was there. Anyway have great day!_**

 **Heya! I'm glad you liked it – and yes, I know, there are a ton of mysteries! Sabo the zombie, whirlpool, dragon and his offspring! And as for why sabo was found out – one word. CORAZON. That's all  
naah, the one beaten up wasn't him – but he is important, so keep an eye out for him!  
pffft, yes, totally adding Gaimon now. I have to lmao  
talk soon, thanks for reviewing!**

 **AsunaLucy, Chapter 32, Jul 2:**

 ** _so i started this whole thing today and i just caught up. um so i try to avoid angst but yours was so well writen i had to keep reading. leo is probly the kid you didnt name, and i have decided everyone will betray everyone else by the end of this... i hope luffy and the crew forgives sanji eventually. thanks for stabing out my heart by the way_**

 **hey!  
I'm so glad you like the story wow! :D it means a lot. as for leo being the kid I didn't name… idk. Leo is four years older than ace in this, as I mentioned a few chapters ago now, so he's 22. The kid, I specified, is 14. So I don't think so. But it's a nice theory!  
hehe… yeah, betrayal is pretty big in this. and don't worry – they'll totally forgive him in the end. I hope.  
it's cool it's cool  
talk soon, thank you so much for reviewiiing**

 **RinTori, Chapter 32, Jul 2:**

 ** _Damn, this is good. I love the revisedOP world you made here and everything linking to canon, just ugh. So good. I'm kinda freaking out about my fav boys and they clearly need hugs. And affection. Why do I enjoy reading about them in shitty situations? Dunno, but this is great. Looking forward to what comes next! :)_**

 **Hey!  
wow, thank you! I'm so happy you like the world – I love writing it so much! Aaaand now I'm blushing wow  
yes, they definitely need love! *whispers* hopefully they'll get it before one is brutally murdered in front of the other two lmao  
thank you for reviewing! ily, and I'm really glad you like it :D**

 **Laludofan, Chapter 32, Jul 3:**

 **(wow so many questions! I'm gonna answer this review in bits, if you don't mind!)**

 ** _Heyya wow this chapter so many questions I'm gonna die *-*_** **( I know right me too)** ** _  
Sanji wtf ? You got a death wish or something ?_** **(hes an idiot)** ** _I wonder where he's gonna end up..*whispers* I hope it's with the strawhats. But you're gonna make this much more complicated and angsty, aren't you._** **(naturally. You know me too well)** ** _  
And FINALLY we get to see Stormy Down.. Wow. Like..wow. It's obvious you've been working hard on that part.. It's really well written,_** **(!)** ** _all that mystery got me completely hyped, I loved it. Thanks._** **(thank YOU!)** ** _  
"like a bus had just hit him". Okay. I'm not gonna ask. Or maybe I am. Just for the sake of being a pain.  
Is this place somewhere where time kind of..stops ? That would explain the, um, stillness. And the no heartbeat and blue skin thingy. I dunno._** **(good idea… but nope)** ** _  
Aww how cute Law thinking about the strawhats 3_** **(I knowwww he's such a dork I cri)** ** _  
Loguetown. Hmmm shady. Maybe.. Blackbeard actually.. Or maybe... Okay no I have no clue.  
I. Loved. The. Butterfly. Scene. I don't get it either. But I loved it. _****(hopefully this chapter reveals more clues!)** ** _  
BEPO JINBEI YESSS wait was Law just contaminated ? Or was his mark incapacitated or something ?_** **(dun dun DUNNN)** ** _  
Okay no my time stop theory doesnt make any sense but then wtf is happenning in this place ?  
LAW DON'T LIE you'll get in trouble _****(too late)** ** _  
I've got the feeling Rayleigh is gonna explain important stuff. At some point._** **(you are correct. Very correct actually wow)** ** _  
SABO at last HA your cover blows up Law. What are you gonna do ? And I can't wait for the ex-Revs to realize it's Thatch, but we're gonna have a problem.._** **(yes, yes we are)** ** _  
O-ok so this is Leo's little bro right ? Leo's from Conomi, right ? I'm gonna have a guess and say it's the little boy Nami and Nojiko saved in canon, the one who wanted to avenge his parents or something._** **(if leo's an oc, and hayley's an oc… would the one other person from their island be an oc or? Idk man)** ** _  
Sabo's arc start magnificently. I trust you're gonna blow our minds._** **(THANK YOU)** ** _  
Love~~_**

 **Thank you so much for the review! Ahhhh! I love it and I love you and love asdfghj**


	34. 3-3 - Sabo

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT:**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **GOOD LUCK. YOU'LL NEED IT.**

 **(oh yeah also this chapter goes out to ari, the absolute sabo to our ace)**

* * *

 **Chapter 34 – Sabo**

* * *

Sabo lies perfectly still, determined not to let an eye or a finger twitch, as the door opens. The gag is rough against his gums, pulled far too tight to be comfortable, and the items of clothing tied around his wrists and ankles are harsh and constricting. Pushing down his panic at being in such a vulnerable position, he makes sure to keep his breathing regular, pupils resolutely unmoving, face slack. The presence of another person in the room isn't noticeable at first, especially since they, like Law, aren't breathing. After a few seconds, however, Sabo can just hear the sound of them shifting slightly on their feet. As if they're tensing, ready for a standoff.

"Rayleigh-ya," Law acknowledges, voice cool. _Rayleigh_. The name is familiar to Sabo, but he can't recall why.

"Law," a level male voice replies, just as calm and collected. "I heard your voice. Talking to yourself, is it?"

Sabo puts everything he has into staying utterly still, breathing slowly as he feels a cold gaze on him. The gag feels like it's tightening with every breath he takes. The feeling of claustrophobia intensifies, but he refuses to give in to it. Sabo has never had a problem with small spaces before. His room in the orphanage was practically a cupboard. Travelling from the west to Edgetown involved a lot of small, uncomfortable spaces. Hell – he, Ace and Luffy (his heart aches slightly at the memory) grew up in a tiny hut, shoved together with no concept of personal space. So why does it bother him right now? Why does panic flood Sabo at the darkness behind his eyelids, at the feeling of being constrained and watched?

One thing's for sure – something happened between the night at the base and now. Something big. It hovers just beyond his consciousness, a body of _bad_ just past the veil of memory. Sabo isn't even sure whether he wants to know what it is.

"Yes. It gets lonely, you know, locked in a room with an infected man and no form of entertainment." Law's voice drips with sarcasm. "Tickling your empathy, am I?"

"Naturally," replies Rayleigh without missing a beat. "And I came to express curiosity. Surely all that talking must have come close to waking… _Sabo_." His voice holds a strange tone, as if he knows exactly what's going on without even trying. It's close to amusement.

"Apparently not."

There's a long silence, and for a second, Sabo is acutely aware of the sound of his own breathing. It really is the only sound in this whole place. Each breath feels like releasing air into a vacuum.

Then Rayleigh's voice speaks, and it's lower and more dangerous than before. "We're all in here for a reason. None of us are idiots. Most of us, however, are wondering when you're going to drop the act and show your true colours." Amusement still colours his tone.

Law snorts. "If you think I'm a traitor, why haven't you killed me already?"

"Because if we killed every bad person in Stormy Down, there would be nobody left here."

This apparently shuts Law up. After a few seconds of meaningful silence (Sabo swears he can feel the tension on the air even with his eyes closed), the floor creaks once again as Rayleigh moves, footsteps moving back towards the door. "This has been a nice chat. I'll be leaving now, Law."

The footsteps reach the door and Law says, "You're locking it again?"

"I am. Goodnight." Once more, amusement is thick in his voice and Sabo supresses a shudder as it rattles beneath his skin. Then, the door opens, Rayleigh steps out and it closes with a 'click' as the lock slips into place. A few seconds pass and Sabo holds his breath, listening hard to the sound of Rayleigh's footsteps fading as they make their way upstairs.

The tension remains unsullied for a second, before Law curses viciously. In the silence his footsteps ring out, aggressively loud as he crosses the room to Sabo's side. The blonde opens his eyes to look reproachfully up at the doctor, scowling around the gag, still trying to keep his breathing calm. He struggles a little against the bonds, wriggling and writhing, just to make his point.

Sighing in defeat, Law reaches down and undoes the gag. Once it's gone, Sabo stretches his jaw and tries to get rid of the taste of it in his mouth. The left corner of his lip is bleeding a little, and he continues to glare at the other man as he undoes the other bindings. "What was that for?!"

"I'm _trying_ to keep both of us alive, and I can't have you blowing my cover. As far as they know, I'm the second division commander of the Revolutionary Army. So we need to get out of here before you blow my cover."

Sabo's eyes flash and he pushes himself up. He stands a little shorter than Law but looks him dead in the eyes, expression filled with something dangerous. "Why second division? What about the real second division commander?"

His voice has risen in volume again and Law bites his lip, knowing that they can't keep this up for long without somebody coming back down the stairs again. Here, sound carries. "I'll explain everything, Sabo-ya, just trust me. We have to go."

"'Trust me'?" The rage on Sabo's face dies back a little, replaced by incredulity. "I barely know you!"

Upstairs, something moves, and Law decides that enough is enough. He grabs Sabo's arm and shakes it hard, knowing that they're running out of time. "I can help you find your brothers again. Just _trust me."_

Sabo's eyes search his face for a minute, looking for something that might tell of his deceit, before he puffs out a quick breath through his nose and nods. "Fine. I'll trust you. Let's go."

* * *

As the pair walk, the house fading behind them, Sabo stares up at the sky. It churns and sways like the ocean, tinged a muddy blue, and the clouds light up with sharp strings of lightning every few seconds. It's almost like the clouds themselves are fracturing at the seams, breaking under the pressure of the silence here. As he walks alongside Law, Sabo acknowledges with a grimace that it's just as silent out here as it was in the hut. As it seems to always be here, Sabo's breathing seems far too loud to be allowed.

"Alright," Sabo says once the house is long gone, "Now you're explaining. Everything." They don't stop walking, but the teen's voice is lined with something harsh that doesn't allow argument.

Law keeps his eyes on the road in front of them, fingering the scalpel in his pocket, not knowing where to start. "The last thing you remember is being at Base 34?"

"Yeah," confirms Sabo, voice grim. "But that's not what's important. Why are you here?"

Silence presses in, thick as iron, before Law finally decides to throw his deliberations to the wind. "I escaped Edgetown the day they dropped the bomb, after you and your brothers had left. My adoptive father, Cora-san, was in the south as far as I knew. So I started travelling in that direction. It took a few weeks to reach the Fringe. By then, I was sixteen. I managed to get past the Fringe and made my way to Marine HQ."

"Marineford?" Sabo frowns. "Why would your father be there?"

"You don't know?" asks Law, surprised, before turning back to the road. "In the south, they keep records of everybody who crosses the Fringe. Unless you enter illegally, they know who you are and where you are at all times. It's a system of complete control you wouldn't see anywhere else in the world. So I knew that if I wanted to see Cora-san again, I would have to find him there. But I got caught, and after using some... somewhat unsavoury methods, they got it out of me that I was from Edgetown."

"Torture?" Sabo guesses. The grim resignation in his voice is audible. He isn't wrong.

"Torture," Law confirms. "I was the only other one to survive, aside from you three. And you three were the ones they were looking for. Anybody from Edgetown was a potential lead, a clue to finding you."

"Wait, what? Why would they be looking for us?" Sabo asks quickly, stumbling over a rock on the ground.

Law regards him with an unreadable look for a second, before turning away again. Silver eyes follow his movements with curiosity and suspicion in equal measure. "What do you know about the number forty-nine?" he asks after a second.

"Uh... Nothing? I mean, it sounds pretty familiar, but it doesn't really mean anything to me," replies Sabo, brushing hair out of his eyes.

"Alright. Well... Have you ever heard of something called the void century?"

Sabo freezes for a second, before continuing to walk. This time, however, he doesn't meet Law's eyes.

"I read the phrase in a book when I was a kid, in an orphanage in the south. Our adoptive mother wouldn't let me look at the book again when I asked about it, and she acted as if somebody had died. What does it mean? I've been wondering ever since."

"A long time ago, before the World Government," Law starts, "People with Gifts were treasured. There weren't many of them, and each was numbered and held a special position in society. They were considered almost godlike, and ruled over non-gifted people. It wasn't really a century at all - nobody really knows how long that time lasted, but it was more like an era. It had to end at some point."

"What happened?" A spark of curiosity seems to outshine the lightning above in Sabo's eyes.

"There was a rebellion. The non-Gift users rose up, assassinating most Gifted world leaders. Everything fell into anarchy. It was all out war - Gifts against non-Gifts, brothers and sisters killing each other in the name of equality, or power. Eventually, however, an authority known as the World Government rose to regulate everything. They made it illegal to discuss what had happened, arguing that it should be left in the past so it wasn't repeated. They killed the last of the Gift users, and made the law which still exists today-"

"The law that makes possessing a Gift punishable by death!"

"Yes, exactly. But there were two Gift-users who they just couldn't kill. The pair travelled around the world together, trying to rally other Gift-users and raise awareness for what had happened after the void century. They wanted people to know that it was possible to live in harmony. They had been pirates during the void century, and always preached one thing."

"Freedom," finishes Sabo, voice slightly awed.

"Freedom," Law agrees. "Right up until around thirty years ago, the World Government did everything they could to silence the pair. They set up a task force that became known as the Foxes - LUCFER49, if you want the full name - to stop them."

"LUCFER49? What does that stand for?"

Law cracks his knuckles softly, a nervous tick of his. "The law-sanctioned unanimous council for the execution of Roger 49."

"That's a mouthful," Sabo comments wanly.

"You could say that. Anyway, the Foxes did everything they could to get rid of them, but it was no good. Nobody knew how they had managed to live so long, but they did."

"And then what happened? You said something about it being thirty years ago - did they manage to kill them?!"

Law's shoes dig up dust with every step, and he keeps his eyes on them. "One of them. The government finally found out how they'd survived. One of them, gift user forty-nine, had he ability to create prophecies. He knew what was going to happen, could predict death before it arrived, and that made him both an amazing tactician and a formidable opponent. He was known for a long time as 'Roger 49'. The other... We know less about. We know that he was gift user twenty-one. We also know that his gift was something to do with immortality. He could grant eternal life to people, including himself, or add more years to their lifespan. We would know more about him but thirty years ago, the leader of LUCFER49 managed to capture him and had one of his subordinates put him in a medically induced coma. After that, they couldn't get any information out of him."

"And this left Roger 49 defenseless?"

"Exactly. Without the other man's help, it took just under a decade but he got sick. Very sick, very fast. He was caught and sentenced to a private execution, because nobody wanted his existence to be revealed to the world. And his last prophecy is the one thing that condemned you and your brothers for good."

Sabo's breath catches. Something sparks in the air between the pair, like a lance of electricity. "What did the prophecy say?"

"It said that Roger's sons would be the ones to bring the world to its knees. Roger laughed at the execution stand as he said his sons would be able to control the most destructive element - fire - and that they would use it to restore the void century again."

Sabo can't find words to say. A chill snakes under his skin, like somebody has replaced the blood in his veins with ice. Vaguely, he realises that he's stopped walking. Law is staring at him intently. "I..." Thoughts swirl and churn through his brain, each moving too fast to truly register.

"And he was killed. Just like that." Law looks away, eyes stony. "LUCFER49 looked like it was going to be disbanded, because after a few years of finding, they still hadn't managed to find any trace of his sons. They were close to giving up when they heard reports of two children being sighted on a trash heap outside of Edgetown in the east, playing with fire."

"Me and Ace..." Sabo finishes, mystified. He still hasn't started walking again, and he and Law face each other as if about to start a shootout.

Law makes a noise of confirmation. "After that, the Foxes sent one of their subdivisions, CP9, to pick up two kids with the same mark from Edgetown. However, there was a miscommunication."

"And they only picked up one. My little brother." Sabo paces forwards and together, the pair start to walk again. This time, however, there's a purpose in the blonde's stride that wasn't there before. "So they knew we were there. Me and Ace left, so what next? How did they find out who we were?"

"Once they knew you were at Edgetown, things became easier. The Foxes have some of the most incredible intelligence resources in the world. They found out that there were three adoptive brothers - Ace, Luffy and Sabo - and, then things became a little trickier. Only one of you was Roger's biological son. It was easy to find out who Luffy was. Shanks' movements correlated with his birth perfectly. So that just left you and Sabo."

"How did you know only one of us was Roger's son? Why not both?"

"Because of a man named Dragon. He's the leader of a revolutionary group known as AANGEL - the Association for the Abolition of Non-Criminal Gift-User Execution Liberties. Unlike the Revolutionary Army, they focus their efforts on helping exclusively Gift-users, and stay mostly in obscurity. And from what we could tell, he's been looking for his son for eighteen years. His son, and another child with a fire Gift. We deduced from resemblance and a few other tip-offs that the biological son of Roger was Ace, and..."

He doesn't need to say anymore, for Sabo understands. "I'm Dragon's son... And the prophecy works. Hell, it works perfectly." His voice is almost bitter. "His sons will bring down the world - he only had one son, but that one had two adoptive brothers."

"So by the time I reached the south and was captured, they knew that Roger's son - a boy with black hair - had two adoptive brothers, and that two of them could control fire. The third, who was taken captive by CP9, was put into an enforced position of combat."

"Luffy became a soldier?!" Sabo's voice suddenly becomes thick with relief, as if the whole world was resting on his shoulders and has now dropped off. "He's alive. Holy shi- Luffy's alive."

Law bites his lip, but decides to say nothing about that. It probably wouldn't be the best plan to mention that that might not last much longer. After all - the little brother who Sabo is so relieved to hear about was, not so long ago, stabbed by Law himself. And something tells the doctor that he would be foolish to mention that in the presence of the blonde. He's met characters like Sabo before. They don't take kindly to you hurting their loved ones.

"Anyway," Law continues, "Once Ace joined the Revolutionary Army, he was easier to keep track of. The 'Portgas' part of his name was the thing that made the Foxes positive that he was Roger's; Portgas D. Rouge was a woman he was... More than friendly with in his last years of life. There was only one more brother left to locate - Sabo, who disappeared into obscurity around the same time as his brother joined the revolutionaries."

"But they found me eventually. Four years later," Sabo finishes. "And they dragged me out of my bed in the night and-" He swallows hard. "And now I'm here."

"Exactly," Law confirms. "I joined the Foxes when I was sixteen, and was viewed as an especially valuable member because I was the only personal alive - who they had access to - who had seen all three of the brothers."

"Wait, you joined them?!" Sabo's head snaps up, grey eyes filled with steel. "Why?! The only reason LUCFER49 still exists is to kill me and my brothers! Surely you didn't want to-"

"You're right," Law cuts in darkly, "I didn't want to." Above, the sky seems to grow slightly more shaded. "Remember Cora-san? They had him hostage. They said if I didn't join them, train myself to the breaking point just to become one of the Foxes, they would kill him. Torture him. Do you really think I could let that happen?!" Sabo has fallen silent by now, and Law takes a deep breath before ploughing on. "I kept all the information from them that I could, making sure I didn't tell them what you really looked like in detail. I risked my life, I risked my father's life, just to keep you alive. And look where it got me!" Law gives a humourless, rough laugh. It tears out of his throat like something foreign that he can't control. All the emotions of the last few hours, the oppressive, terrifying nature of this place - it's all crashing down on him.

"Law..." murmurs Sabo, eyes wide.

"Look where it got me!" Law repeats, this time yelling, all traces of laughter gone. He's stopped walking now. His yellow eyes burn into Sabo's like embers. "Doflamingo stabbed me in the back! I'm stuck here with no way out, helping the one person most likely to get me killed, and my father's probably dead! They don't need me anymore, not that I know why, and they're going to kill Cora-san because of it." Law clenches his jaw, standing to his full height and glaring down at Sabo as he tries to get his emotions back under control. "So yeah, I joined them. And I might as well be dead right now, and it might be because they found out that I did everything I could to keep _you_ alive."

He turns on his heel and storms up the road, t-shirt sticking to his chest, leaving Sabo to catch up. Sabo, however, stays right where he is. After a few moments, Law stops walking and turns back around, opening his mouth to yell for the other to catch up. Before he can, however, he catches sight of Sabo's face and freezes. The blonde teen is staring down at his hands, eyes wide, face filled with dawning comprehension - and horror. "What is it?" Law asks, taking a cautious step forwards. He can feel the anger melting out of his system.

"If they don't need you anymore, and are willing to throw away somebody who's been part of their task force for years... Don't you see what that means? That they're willing to throw away members with no issues?" Sabo asks in a quiet voice. His hands are shaking.

"I- no...?" Law replies, feeling foreboding rising in his chest. "What does it mean?"

Sabo looks up. "It means they've got Ace. Luffy's in the army, I'm stuck in Stormy Down- he's the only one left."

"Actually," Law puts in, taking another step forwards, "That's not completely true."

Sabo meets his gaze, hope in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"They don't have Luffy. He escaped a few months ago, around the same time as Ace disappeared."

Sabo stares unabashedly for a second, expression flitting between various different emotions, before he darts forwards. "You've got a lot more explaining to do," he says, and Law doesn't argue.

* * *

His older brother's blood is hot on his fingers, and Luffy can feel himself shaking. Around them, the battlefield has fallen silent. Akainu is a mass of heat and light in front of him, over Ace's shoulder, and his fist is still raised. Ace's blood sizzles and evaporates from the molten rock as Luffy watches. He can feel the sob rising in his throat. _This is hell. This is hell_.

"Luffy...?" Ace asks, voice shaking. He coughs, and something wet and warm splatters onto Luffy's shoulder. "Are y-you okay?"

The sob bursts from the fifteen-year old's throat now, before he can stop it. He clutches Ace tighter to him, as if he can keep his big brother alive so long as he keeps him pressed to him. Why is Ace concerned about him now of all times? Why does he care, when there's a hole through his chest and magma sinking through his skin and heat all around them, suffocating, painful even to Luffy?!

"A-Ace..." Luffy moves his hand up to go around Ace's shoulder, holding him so hard that he can feel warm blood sinking through his shirt. "Ace!"

"I'm sorry... Luffy..." Ace whispers. His voice rasps with every word, small and filled with pure pain and sounding so different from the strong brother Luffy knows. He coughs again, and this time, there's no blood on Luffy's skin. The pirate wonders, as tears well up in his eyes and blur his vision, whether there's any blood left in Ace to cough up. He can see it spreading across the ground below them, tainting the grey cobblestone with deep scarlet.

A warm body collides with them, frantic, and another voice joins the mess that fills Luffy's head. The new person presses his hands against Ace's wound, choking back tears, breathing so rapidly that he's close to hyperventilating. He's familiar to Luffy, somebody who should be able to make him feel less terrified, but the only thing that seems to exist in Luffy's world at this moment is Ace. Ace and the blood on his hands.

"No, no, no- Ace!" the new person says. One of his gloves hands wraps around Luffy's shoulders, warm and carrying a familiar smell, as if it's trying to anchor him to consciousness. Luffy doesn't think it's working. The edges of his vision swim with black. Ace's breathing is thinning against his shoulder.

"Dont-" Ace's body slumps a little. Luffy squeezes his eyes shut tight, teeth clenched against the waves of grief that throb through him, something wet and hot streaming down his face. "Don't be u-upset. I'll be able to tell Leo that- that J-Jake misses him." His voice gets weaker still. The other person, t-shirt soaked with blood, is shaking with the force of his sobs.

"D-Don't talk like that! No!" Luffy's voice breaks. His knees weaken, and he, Ace and the other young man slip a little to the floor. His hand is buried deep in the gruesome concave of Ace's back, trying and failing to stop the bleeding when it probably won't do much now. "Please don't say that...!"

Ace takes a rasping, painful breath in. Against Luffy's shoulder, his jaw forms a grin. "I love you both, Luffy. And just think..." One last breath, and this time his voice is barely a choked whisper. "I'll be able to tell Haruta I'm…sorry..."

Ace slips forward, knees slick and wet with his own sweat and blood, and Luffy's arms are too weak to hold him up. Unceremoniously, with mundane finality that stabs through his little brother's chest like a bayonet, Portgas D. Ace hits the ground and doesn't draw another breath

Luffy throws his head back and _screams_.

* * *

 **IM SO FUCKING MEAN. WHAT THE FUCK. I LOVE THIS. I AM LIVING**

 **turnipdragon, Chapter 33, Jul 8:**

 ** _Love this, love you, love zombie law trying to get out and get his revenge, love poor sabo who just needs many many hugs at this point. Thank you for the chapter :)_**

 **Hey!  
thanks for the lovely review! I love you too and I'm really glad you liked the chapter! And yes…so many hugs….  
thank YOU for reading it! :D**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 33, Jul 8:**

 ** _i- my sister hates me._**

 **I am literally cackling**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 33, Jul 8:**

 ** _im waiting for the glorious moment where law gets his cover blown unintentionally by sabo. that little shit deserves it.  
ANYWHO. Corazon! My man! My beautiful, beautiful man! If he's the reason why Sabo was found out, I could only deduce that he was fighting in the government army too, undercover. Either because Doflamingo needed him to, or because he was associated with someone in the government. I wonder if it would be the same person from the canon world..  
I'm super glad you like my art! Your tags made me laugh so hard! Maybe I could break your own heart by sketching out the heartbreaking scenes in here... :)c  
(Y'know, I'd love to have a description of what you think everyone looks like in this fic. Like, what they're wearing and stuff. Any differences from the canon world in terms of appearance. I know Luffy lost some of his fingers, but what about everyone else? I'd love to be able to sketch out some of them! Tumblr is a great place to share things.. ;) Til the next update!)_**

 **heyooo!  
yep, he's such a lil shit. And Corazon! I hope this chapter revealed more about that!  
OF COURSE I LOVED YOUR ART I literally died when I saw it. YOURE AN AMAZING ARTIST. *bows* orzzzzzz  
as for the descriptions – I've got a ton of them! Anybody in particular? I did change all of their appearances quite a bit. Eg. Nami's body type, multiple ethnicities, scars, clothes etc etc. I could babble about this for ages. And more art would be absolutely amazing!  
talk soon, I hope you liked this chapter!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 33, 22h ago:**

 ** _Sabo freaking out is honestly hilarious  
Yup, just play dead and try not to mentally freak out too  
YOU'RE NOT FINE  
*hug*  
Update~_**

 **He's such a dork, I know. And law's being a dick which really doesn't help.  
I AM. MOSTLY. ALSO DO YOU HAVE DISCORD? A FEW PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE FIC ARE ARENT DICKS ARE CHATTING OVER THERE AND IT WOULD BE SOOOO COOL TO TALK TO YOU TOO  
*hugs tighter*  
talk soon, thanks for reviewing!**

 **Laludofan, Chapter 33, 19h ago:**

 ** _I was hoping you'd get a chapter out before I left and RIGHT ON TIME *-* you're most definitely a god.  
Wait. Waitwaitwaitwaitwait. Thatch is really.. Dead ? But.. But you... Why ?  
There's an unfinished sentence.. How mysterious~~  
Gah xc I don't like Kidd he's such a jerk. Anyway.  
Theory ! This HAPPY thingy was Perona to Zoro ! And it's their house. Mh. How did it get there ?  
LAW STOP LYING WE WANT INFO  
Whaaaa ! So BOTH Sabo AND Ace are Dragon's sons ! ..I think ?  
YESSS SABO CAN FEEL ACE I LOVE YOU hope they can talk again later w  
'quick as a fox'.. That's the second time ! There was the 'crooked halo' too.. What are you trying to say _ though I like the idea of Haley being Law's sis hehe  
Sorry this review was shorter than usual.. *yawns* you're the best, so many questions ahhh  
Well til in three weeks ;-; ill have to catch up haha_**

 **Heyooo! I'm no god, but thanks!  
hehe, did you think he was alive? Awww, that's cute. But nah. One of the themes I was given to inspire this fic was death and I am LIVING UP TO IT.  
unfinished sentence?! Where?!  
I know, but he has good reason to be. I mean the world has been a dick to him.  
THEORY = PRETTY DAMN SOLID. THINK MORE ABOUT PERONA. HER POWER COULD CREATE HOLLOWS IN PEOPLE, TAKING AWAY EVERYTHING BUT ANGER AND FEAR. WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE?  
yes, sabo can feel ace! Maybe not for long, though…. Imsosorryforthischapter  
it's okay, a review is still a review and they all mean so much to me!  
talk soon, have fun and see you in three weeks! Thanks for the review!**


	35. 3-4 - The Little Girl

**Warnings: the usual jazz**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **im so fucking tired. what the fuck. also ari and ty and zoe and scandy, ily all? (you know who you are). youre so much fun to brainstorm with and chat to and honestly im fuckin sentimental when its 3am**

 **anyway! read! i need to sleep right now, because i need to be alive tommorow lmao**

* * *

 **Chapter 35 – The Little Girl**

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Sabo kneads his forehead with his knuckles. "My little brother escaped from a naval base – one that happens to be Base _49_ , might I add – and became a pilot, lost three of his fingers and you…stabbed…him."

Law would never admit it, but he has to resist the urge to shiver. "It was necessary for the mission. And I missed more of his major organs, so your brother should be f-"

"You _stabbed_ my little brother."

"…Yes. I did."

"And you expected me to be fine with this?!" Sabo takes a step forwards, moving between Law and the road. Suddenly, in a blur of movement, he reaches across the other and snags the scalpel in his hand between two fingers. Law just about manages to hold tightly to the other end and the pair stare at each other for a second, one glaring, the other raising an eyebrow as coldly as he can. Then Sabo practically growls, silver eyes flashing, and Law abruptly drops the scalpel.

He curses colourfully, looking down to see that the palm of his hand is burnt in a line where he was holding the medical instrument. Sabo spins the scalpel in his hands, and the metal is visibly red hot. _Of course_. How could Law forget that he just pissed off a _fire user_ \- somebody with the ability to burn his face clean off? That definitely wasn't the smartest idea. The burn across his hand, burning and smarting, is the hottest and most intense feeling Law has experienced since before he was sent here.

"Maybe I should… Give you a taste of what you made Luffy feel, hm?" Sabo's eyes are deep and dangerous.

Law takes a step back. _Whoah_. He tries to keep the apprehension from his face (unarmed and exhausted in front of a pyromaniac with a scalpel. It's an interesting life Law lives) as he says, "I might be of help to get us out of here, Sabo-ya."

Sabo glares for a second more, before shrugging and pocketing the scalpel. "I wasn't _actually_ going to stab you, you know that, right?" He chuckles, before his face hardens. "Seriously, though. Don't hurt my little brother again."

"Noted." Law has his cool, collected composure back in place, though as he and Sabo start walking again, he makes sure not to get within a one foot radius of the younger teen. He doesn't ask for the scalpel back. Law prides himself on his nerve, but he isn't stupid.

After a few more hours - they could even be minutes, as it's hard to tell here - Law begins to feel the fatigue growing in his limbs. Every passing cloud looks the same, the barren landscape identical for miles and miles. Today, it feels like they walk for free. Law is sure that if he was to turn around, he would see the house looming behind them.

Sabo apparently agrees. "This place is too quiet," he mutters, voice sounding alien over the void that replaces background noise.

"I was thinking the same thing," Law replies, no discernible emotion in his voice. After a second he continues, "What do you know about Stormy Down?"

Sabo considers the question, expression unreadable. The scars across the side of his face contort with every minute movement he makes, every breath he takes, and Law wonders if he's noticed them yet. By the looks of them, they aren't old – maybe he even got them while he was in Stormy Down. It's not like there are many mirrors here - any, as a matter of fact.

"I heard about it in the navy. People talked about it like it was some kind of hell, I guess." The blonde shifts, uncomfortable. "What is it, really? How do they put people here?"

Law shrugs. "I'm one of the Foxes and even I don't really know. LUCFER49's leader, Doflamingo, controls it. I was pulled in by a whirlpool and according to the people I used to travel with, that's the usual way to get pulled in. I do have a few theories..."

Sabo's head snaps around, and Law once again marvels at the spark that bursts to life in his grey eyes. "Tell me?"

"Well for one thing, it probably can't be opened from anywhere, right?"

Sabo shifts so he and Law can look at each other more easily, walking backwards with his arms crossed. Comprehension enters his eyes, and he nods. "That makes sense. If it could, the government would probably have a lot more of an easier time, right?" He hums. "Whereabouts were you when you were pulled in?"

"About ten hours off northern territory, heading south," Law replies. "I was in the no-man's land, in between north and south."

"It makes sense." Sabo sweeps a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes. "The Revolutionaries probably have measures in place to stop him creating whirlpools there. What else do you know? Does Doflamingo have a Gift that lets him control something like that?"

"Have you ever heard of something called the Aura Effect?" Law asks, before watching as Sabo's face breaks out into a medley of mingled shock and understanding.

"The Aura Effect. The theory that, if a Gift-user dies before their time, their power leaves behind residual energy that can be stored and used at will." Sabo recites it word-perfectly; a textbook definition.

"Exactly. So think about this - if Doflamingo had a Gift that can control that energy, he could use it to create a place like this, right?" Law watches Sabo's face fold into a look of confusion and cuts in before he can speak. "Yeah, I know it seems far-fetched, but listen, I've been doing a lot of digging. A little girl in East Blue died an unfortunate death of illness seven years ago. It was found after her death that she was Gifted. CP9, who still investigated all Gift-user claims, identified her power as one that could be used to create hollows inside people. She could put them into a permanent phase of pseudo-depressive psychosis, rendering them incapable of feeling anything but anger and fear. Just like the infection here."

Sabo gapes but the other continues regardless, saying, "I had always thought that maybe it had something to do with that girl, especially since Doflamingo created this place only weeks after she died. Its original purpose was to imprison Gift-user twenty-one, as no other place could hold him. It served its purpose. And I was only made more sure when I saw a sign when I first arrived here. _'Loguetown'_. The place Dracule Perona grew up. This place - Stormy Down - is a manifestation of what's left of her power."

Sabo is open-mouthed, but something angry stirs in his eyes. "How old was she when she died?"

"Nine. With an older brother, who was ten. Dracule Zack. Apparently he changed his name and disappeared, but he's no longer in our records." Law swallows. "They never identified what killed her. It's as if her body just stopped working altogether."

"Dolfamingo?" Voice shaking, Sabo doesn't let his gaze fall from the other's.

"Probably. He needed a way to imprison twenty-one, because they couldn't kill him. And it's not like Doflamingo cares about innocent lives."

Silence reins for a few minutes, and Sabo turns back around. His face is dark, eyes both angry and deeply, deeply empathetic. Soon, he says, "Maybe we should stop soon. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired."

Law doesn't argue, and doubts he would even if he had the energy to do so. There's no landmark in sight, nothing to hide the pair from view, so eventually they settle on lying by the side of the road, a foot or so apart, staring up a the clouds. It's almost like watching a raging sea from under the surface, the surgeon contemplates. Like being stuck below the madness that rages above, in a silent, cold world.

"'Night, Law," Sabo says. For a second, his voice is small. He's eighteen - younger than Law, young enough to still be a kid - and is terrified that he's lost his brothers, stuck in some strange world far from home. If he even has one. Law is the same, of course, but can't find it within himself to relate.

"Goodnight, Sabo-ya," the doctor replies, rolling over on the rough ground. He falls asleep, hating the Foxes more than he ever has.

* * *

Sabo wakes up with his face pressed against the dusty ground, a rock digging into his cheek. Something cold is pressed against the curve of his spine, and as he lies there, he can feel it twitch. Slowly, he opens his eyes. The world around him is dark, colour sucked from every cell, and bare. He can feel dust in his eyes and on his eyelids and sits up, rubbing a hand across his face to dislodge the sand and sleep that have sunk into his pores.

Stretching, Sabo glances down. He must have shifted closer to Law in the night, as the young doctor was the thing he was pressed against. Law's face is tranquil in sleep, brow loose, lips slightly parted. His blueish skin looks even more pale and unhealthy when he's unmoving like this. He looks dead. Not one part of him manifests any sign of life – no heat, no breathing, no movement, no awareness. A wave of paranoia washes over Sabo, and he has to resist the urge to shake Law awake. He desperately doesn't want to be alone in a place like this.

The sky above hasn't changed gotten lighter or darker at all since Sabo woke up here. It's disconcerting, to say the least. There's no doubt that this whole place will take a lot of getting used to. Silence. Stillness. A disconcerting lack of feeling, like being disconnected to sensation in itself. To distract himself, Sabo pulls up his knees and wraps his arms around them, leg lightly touching Law's cold one. Closing his eyes as he catches sight of the blood on his old marine uniform, he focuses on the one sensation that's still perfectly clear to him. Ace.

Ace's fire, the feeling of his presence, presses against Sabo's own mind. He's steadily burning, fiercely alive, but still just out of reach. Sabo reaches for him, pushing against the iron veil that lies between them, but receives no answer. Still – the mere fact that he's there is enough. Ace is alive. He may have disappeared, strangely around the time Sabo was sent here, but he's not dead. Still burning. Still warm.

Sabo pulls his knees closer to himself, left cheek aching. The skin there is rough and occasionally numb. The blonde wants to ask Law what lies there – burns? Scars? Something worse? – but can't muster the courage to. He still isn't sure he wants to know what happened in that period of time he can't remember. It boils beneath the surface of his skin, like an unexploded mine.

Suddenly, so abruptly that it races through Sabo like an electric shock, Ace's presence flares.

 _Ace?! Ace, can you hear me?!_ Sabo pushes himself to his feet, urgency thrumming through him, leaving Law's side. He stands in the road for a second, tense, as if awaiting attack. Ace tried to talk to him. He knows it.

 _Sab-_

There it is. Ace. He sounds, _feels_ frantic. The most scared Sabo has heard him in a long time. But also, somehow, elated.

 _Ace? Are you there?_

A stretch of silence. On the ground, Law shifts in his sleep, eyes squeezing together and face tightening. Sabo stays still, alert and ready, straining desperately to catch any trace of Ace that he can.

 _Sabo!_

An image flashes through the blonde's mind like lightning, quick as a flash. Scarlet beads, shattered on a wooden floor. Blood on Ace's hands, which are bound at the wrists by chains. A single unshattered bead clutched between his fingers. The letter 'J' carved into its shining surface.

 _-abo, are you okay?! Please tell me-_

Ace's voice flickers in and out like a broken radio, muffled with the static of his own panic, muffled every few seconds as the connection dims. But it's still there. Sabo's legs feel like jelly and he sits again, throat closing up with emotion as relief throbs through him. It feels like an eternity since he and Ace talked like this, since they truly connected.

 _Fuck- Ace._ Sabo's thoughts are a mess. He hopes that Ace understands the objective behind his incoherent jumble of messages. _Oh my god._

 _-ou're alive!_

 _I should be the one telling you that!_

Sabo doesn't realise that he's grinning, wide and bright, until his jaw starts to ache. He doesn't care. Past all the fear in Ace right now, past all the hurt Sabo can feel emanating from him, is pure relief. Disbelief. Joy.

 _Where are you? And what happened to you?!_ Ace's consciousness, the voice Sabo can hear, feels rough. Wounded. _It's been months!_

 _I don't know any better than you- shit, Ace, so much has happened._ Sabo swipes furiously at the tears gathering in his eyes, determined not to let his emotions boil over as they have the urge to right now. _I missed you so much. And I don't know what the hell happened to you but- I'm coming for you. I promise._

 _Don't you dare!_ A fresh wave of fear rolls off of Ace. It feels so foreign that Sabo shivers with the feeling of it. _It's bad enough that the Revolutionaries are risking it all for me – don't do this. Please don't do this, Sabo._

 _Ace, I just got you back, I'm not-_

Suddenly, the connection falters. The static returns. An image pushes to the forefront of Sabo's mind – his brother shoving the single unharmed bead into his pocket, adrenaline thick and hot as it pounds through his heart. _They're coming. I have- go- miss-_

With ever pause of silence, every beat where Ace's presence dims, Sabo's heart skips a beat. _Ace? Where are you?! Just tell me, I swear I'll get out of-_

 _Don't- Execu-_ A pause, tight with tension. Law shifts again. _–Bo. Please just-_

With one last heave of emotion, both brothers throwing everything they can into staying connected for just a second more, Ace goes silent.

Law jerks awake. Sabo can hear the yell catch in his throat before it can emerge and knows that his rapid breathing and darting eyes are the result of a nightmare. The blonde himself probably looks the same, breathing heavily, choked up with emotion from the brief exchange with his brother.

Sabo and Law meet eyes. Both are dusty and shaking, knees touching. Law's gaze is hard, tinged with something pained Sabo hasn't seen within it as of yet.

"We're getting the hell out of here." On shaking legs, Sabo pushes himself up. His fists are clenched hard enough for his nails to draw blood. "Now."

"Not that I'm arguing with that sentiment, Sabo-ya," Law says dryly, allowing the other to pull him to his feet, "But how are we supposed to do that?"

Sabo stares down the road, in the direction they were headed before they stopped for a break, eyes resting squarely on the horizon. "We're going to find Perona."

* * *

The building, just like everything else, is perfectly still. It seems frozen in time, hanging on the edge of a time lapse, like a monochrome photograph. Sabo and Law stand side-by-side, neither speaking, facing down the doors at its entrance. A sign above the door, rotted and dust-worn, reads, 'Loguetown Elementary'. A strange energy seems to emanate from the place, so intense that Law finds himself feeling strangely lightheaded, somehow. His hands feel stiff with cold sweat.

"Alright," Sabo says in a shaky voice, "Let's go in and see if we can find anything. Try to call out to her, I don't know. She might be the only way out of this place."

Law nods, not trusting himself to answer around the bitter feeling in his throat. They walk forwards in unison, moving in step with each other, and once inside the building they split. Sabo goes left, and Law takes a corridor leading right. Most of the windows leading up the hallways are smashed, grimy and jagged in their frames, and dirtied lockers are pushed up against each other along the walls like rotten teeth. Law turns a corner, fists clenched as his instincts scream at him to get out of here fast, and sees a word spray-painted in black across the opposite. _'HAPPY'_.

A fine shiver runs along his spine. The more he looks, the more his mind plays tricks on him. It's not black at all, after a few seconds of staring - it's blood red. Grimacing, Law turns away and clenches his jaw, stepping through a shaft of sunlight that falls through a cracked window above. The fractures in the glass light up the floor like a ghost. Something moves, quick as a phantom, to Law's left. When his head snaps in its direction, it's gone without a trace. One locker, left slightly ajar, lets out a sickly, bitter smell like rotten meat.

Without warning, a child's laughter rings up the corridor. It sounds larger than life. As it echoes towards Law, softer and softer with each resounding sound, it morphs into a cruel snicker. The sound screams through Law's ears like a siren. Abruptly, he wishes for the silence again. Something about this place is horribly, horribly wrong. Something draws his feet forwards. Whether it's the strange energy of this place, or the desperation in Sabo's eyes when he said they were going to get out of here, Law doesn't know. All he knows is that he has to keep moving forwards. Something's here. Waiting for them. The locker letting off the bad smell lets out a soft clicking sound as he passes it, making Law's shoulders tense up, but he doesn't look back.

Around the next corner, the corridor is darker. Law realises that the sunlight that had been streaming through the windows previously - though he has no idea how it was - has dimmed. Outside, the sky churns with smoke. The lockers are all open now, their doors facing Law like rows of tin soldiers, and he can't see what's inside. As he walks, Law resolutely doesn't look back, no matter how strong the urge is. No matter how much he knows, deep down, that something is standing behind him.

Law walks forward. He has nothing to defend himself with, no weapons to brandish. He feels naked and small. Keeping his eyes glued directly ahead of him is hard, but something inside of him is screaming at him that he cannot turn around. No matter what happens, he can't see what's inside those lockers. As he passes one, the grime on it barely visible in the thinning light, another young, male laugh echoes out. It's harsh and distorted, warped by something that infects the air like a virus. He still can't turn around.

A shrill whistle begins in Law's ears. and rounding the next corner brings him to a flight of stairs. Each step, unlike the grime that coated the school before, is perfectly clean. And at the top of those stairs, looking at the floor with blank eyes, is a little girl with pink ringlets hanging around her heart-shaped face. Her cheeks are hollow, so much so that Law mistakes it for bruising for a second. Sallow skin clings to her bones, stretched painfully over bony wrists. Her slightly tanned skin and dark eyes remind Law of somebody.

"Perona?" The name slips from his lips before he can stop it.

The girl slowly looks up. She and Law stare at each other for a second, grey eyes burning into grey. Behind Law, the thing is still. He swears he can feel it breathing on his skin.

"Zack?" she asks, voice hopeful. "Are you feeling better?"

"I'm not- I'm not Zack," Law stutters. Perona's young face falls. There's a bone-deep sadness in the curve of her lips, in the wetness of her eyes, that ascends her age. She's hopeless.

"Nobody ever is." She tilts her head, so similarly to how Luffy used to a million years ago. "Do you know if he's feeling better? I worry about Zack a lot. And he should be happy. Not...hollow."

A memory, not his own, flashes before Law's eyes for a second. A young boy with green hair and no father. His eyes are dark and dead. He wants to end it. Perona cries in frustration every night because he just won't smile, won't speak, won't tell her that he's alright. Zack. Zoro. Suddenly, it all makes sense.

"He is," Law says, in the most even voice he can. Cautiously, he puts a foot on the first step. The thing behind him snarls, inhuman, twisted by Perona's mind. "I saw him a few days ago. He's living up there." Using slow, careful movements, Zoro points to the sky. "On the outside. And he has a family now. Zack's happy now, Perona. And you can rest. Just please - let go." He doesn't know where the words are coming from, but they flow from Law like a tide.

Perona takes a step forwards, foot poised over the top of the stairs. She's shaking. "The mean man doesn't want me to. He says- he says that if I stop, Z-Zack's going to die." She shivers. "He's behind you, you know. He d-doesn't really look like him. He looks like one of the boys, 'cause he knows they scare me. But it's him."

The innocence in Perona's voice makes Law's heart clench. He can feel breath on his neck, and knows that he doesn't have much time. "Perona... I need you to believe in me. Please. Zack has a big, strong family now. They're going to protect him." Law takes another step and then another. This is it. "I need you to let go now. It's not going to hurt anymore. So just let go, okay?"

Perona sniffs. "I-I'm scared. He wants me to hit you. He wants me to hurt you." She takes another step. "He's not very happy," she whispers.

Law takes two more steps. They're closer together now, only a few steps apart, and the thing behind Law feels weaker. Less real. "If you trust me, all this can end. I promise. Just help us - let yourself move on - and you'll be able to see your brother again. I promise." Each word feels painful, like it's forcing its way from his throat.

Perona stares at Law for a second more, still shaking, before she whispers, "He's behind you now. He wants to kill. Mr. Lucifer isn't very happy with us." Her eyes are filled with tears. The staircase lightens, and when Law looks up, he can see the ceiling beginning to splinter. The world itself is fracturing.

"Ignore him. Zack's alive. Isn't that what matters to you most?" Law takes one more step.

With a sob, Perona throws herself forwards. Law catches her, feels tears wet his shirt. Above, the ceiling disintegrates, opening up onto the cloudless, sunny sky. The light on Law's face stings his eyes like sea salt, raw and real. He spins on his heel, holding Perona tightly, in time to see a little boy with black eyes evaporate into nothing behind him. Down the corridor, two more demon boys do the same, screaming as they do. Their screams assault Law's ears in a lance of sound, almost overpowering the sting of harsh sunlight on his skin.

Sabo comes hurtling around the corner, catching sight of Law and throwing himself forwards into a sprint. He flies across the corridor and up the the stairs even the ground breaks beneath his feet, hair flying, scar gleaming in the light. The world cracks farther, the floor beneath their feet starting to dissolve into light, and Law yells, "Let go!"

Perona clutches him tightly for one more second. "Zack," she chokes out into his chest, "Zack." Then, just as Sabo reaches them, she seems to shrink in Law's arms. The surgeon falls to his knees but Sabo's there to support him, heaving his boneless body up and slinging his arm around his own shoulders.

A silver dove flies upwards from Law's arms, through the crumbling roof and into the light, soaring and swirling. As the floor falls out from underneath the pair, Sabo clutching Law's shirt roughly as the world tears around them, Law draws in a single ragged, painful breath.

Law sees the silver of Sabo's eyes, then the world spinning out from under them, and then nothing at all.

* * *

 **Phew.**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 34, Jul 9:**

 ** _iJ_OWNDJO{OI#RU PE  
I READ THIS IN ADVANCE BUT STILL  
YOU SLY DEVIL_**

 **im never goiNG TO STOP LAUGHING AT THIS REVIEW HOLY SHIT**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 1, Jul 9:**

 ** _I had to wake up at stupid o clock in the morning today to do a yardsale but when I saw a notification for this I absolutely screamed. I started following your Tumblr btw cuz i was gonna message you to make sure you didn't fucking die BUT YOU LIVE! also I want to YELL about Thatch but... I really... can't... (why must all us authors insist on hurting the precious boy?) although I'm REALLY glad Sabo is becoming more aware but that means he'll remember what he did ;n; SHIT I'M TOO LATE AND THE NEW CHAPTER IS OUT BUT IMMA STILL POST THIS ANYWAYS I'VE BEEN SITTING ON THIS REVIEW FOR DAY K_**

 **Heyooo!  
yeah, it was cool to message you on tumblr! And I love your blog :D  
yep, poor sabo!  
(im sorry this is a shitty reply, I'm so tired..)  
TALK SOON!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 34, Jul 9:**

 ** _Okay, I have a few simple words.  
What. The. F * C K  
Update~_**

 **HAHAHAHAHA**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 34, Jul 10:**

 ** _I'm crying what the fuck? what the fuck man that's now how it's supposed to go! Sabo is supposed to burst out of the ground all Not Dead Bitch! in a giant ball of fire and save Ace at the last second? and this? is not the plan this is not how it's supposed to go! is Ace going to Stormy Down and meet Sabo? I'm? aaaaaAAAAA AA_**

 **This entire review is making me crack up lmao  
well, I hope this chapter made you cheer up a little, at least. Pfffft, I would say sorry, but im really not**

 **YJV, Chapter 34, 20h ago:**

 ** _No no no Ace can't die! They have to be together! Please say that Ace will somehow, miraculously come back ? Maybe a time warp or something?_**

 **Im laughing so hard  
fanfic writer is my name anarchy is my game**

 **Guest, Chapter 33, 11h ago:**

 ** _I'm sorry I missed a chapter but wow that was a really fast update so thanks. So, the HAPPY makes me think of Zoro and if I'm right then that would mean there's a way and it would explain how he knows things. Law is now out for revenge but he wants Doflamingo to win? And if he needs Sabo he better hope Sabo doesn't find out about him hurting Luffy, and I really want to see what the others do now seeing as they're suspicious. *returns hugs* now on to the next chapter_**

 **Heyoo!  
yep, you're right about zoro :D as can be seen from this chapter!  
where did I say he wants doflamingo to win?  
*hugs* talk soon!**

 **Guest, Chapter 34, 11h ago:**

 ** _So many answers, now we know who's Sabo's father and that they indeed wanted the 3 brothers. Smart move Law, not telling Sabo you hurt Luffy. I'm sort of waiting for the rest of the group in Stormy down to show up and learning how they tie into this especially Rayleigh. Nooooooo, not Ace, not my baby, I'm guessing Jake is Leo's brother and Leo and Haruta are dead which means I have a feeling I'll be weeping soon. *more hugs*_**

 **Hehe, yep, so much exposition! Im glad you like it, anyway :P  
so sad, I know. Accceee whyyy (oh wait I wrote it lmaO)  
yep, you'll be crying soon!  
*hugs***

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 34, 10h ago:**

 ** _Wait what the fack just happened?!_**

 **GOOD QUESTION LMAO**


	36. 3-5 - BONUS - The King's Disposition

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **Some things you should bear in mind for the next few chapters btw:**

 **-why did marco call whitebeard something different from the other revs?  
-shanks wtf?  
-luffy what the hell are your dreams  
-jake?!**

* * *

 **Chapter 36 – BONUS CHAPTER – The King's Disposition**

* * *

 _Drip. Drip_.

Luffy stares in horror, eyes wide and smarting as the smoke stings them. The ground is harsh and hot under his knees, morphing and melting like molten rock, and his skin blisters with the pure heat coming from Akainu. Above him, Ace coughs, throat rasping. Blood drips down his chin. Akainu's fist in his chest morphs and pulsates with light, tearing the young revolutionary open from the inside out. The fire-user's face is screwed up in pain, eyes tearing up, and Luffy's heart _aches_.

Akainu snorts with disgust, as if he's just stepped in something unpleasant, and pulls his fist from Ace's torso roughly. Luffy stares up at his older brother as he sways, teeth clenched against the pain that must be shooting through him horrifically. His mind refuses to comprehend this. Ace falls to his knees and onto Luffy, boneless, and Luffy can hear him choke on a yell of pain. Around them, the battlefield has gone horribly silent. Somewhere far away, Marco yells out in mingled horror and pain, caught up in his own battle but unable to miss what just happened.

Akainu steps forwards once more, prepared to finish off yet another of the three brothers, but a nimble, tall figure intercepts him. "Room!" yells a voice, and Law unsheathes a rusty dagger with a snarl and lunges forward. He and Akainu clash, Gift against Gift, but Luffy can't pay attention. His ears are ringing. Ace's body is hot upon his own and when he looks down, he can see his red shirt spread with a darker shade of crimson.

"Luffy...?" Ace's voice shakes. Throat catching with the tail end of a sob, Luffy clutches Ace tightly to him. "Are y-you okay?"

"A-Ace-" Above, the sky is fractured by lightening. It lights up the agony in Ace's eyes. "Ace!"

Ace opens his mouth to say something else, face contorting in pain, before the ground suddenly shakes beneath them. The world itself tilts on its axis suddenly, and Ace is abruptly ripped from his brother's arms. Luffy cries out in alarm, reaching desperately for him, hurtling through open air as the world shatters around him. Light pours in, thick and fast, before-

"Luffy! Luffy, wake up!"

The captain lurches upwards in bed, chest heaving, a yell ripping from his throat. His body is coated with cold sweat and his heart pounds madly in his chest. For a second he's disorientated, not knowing where the threat is or how to combat it, and somebody grabs his shoulders and shakes them hard.

"Luffy, I need you to calm down!"

The hands on his shoulders feel too hot and for a second Luffy is back there, clutching Ace for dear life as he bleeds out. He squeezes his eyes shut, fighting desperately and lashing out at the person holding his shoulders. A grunt of pain echoes through the room as his fist makes contact with flesh. Luffy scrambles away from the hands, eyes still clenched shut, back hitting a wall. Panic roars to life within his blood itself, and then it happens.

His cheek snaps to the side, a sharp crack piercing the air. A shivering second of silence slips by. Abruptly, Luffy opens his eyes, staring down at a white bedspread in dim light. His mind feels surprisingly more clear even as pain blossoms across his cheek. After a moment, he looks up, making eye contact with Marco. The older man looks concerned, hand slightly red from the force with which he slapped Luffy. "Are you okay, yoi?" he asks quietly, even though it's a stupid question.

Luffy pulls his knees tightly up to his chest, burying his face in them and ignoring the twinge of pain that shoots through the stab wound in his stomach. "I saw it again. Ace dying."

He hears Marco sighing, sat down on the other end of the mattress. "I know you're worried about him, yoi, but that won't do anything. There's no use having nightmares and dreaming up horrible scenarios just because you're scared."

Luffy clenches his teeth, curling up tighter. "You don't know how real they are! Every time I dream it, it's exactly the same. I can feel pain too, and it just-" He swallows. "I can remember it really clearly."

"We'll be there soon. If you're not up for fighting, then I guess we _could_ just leave you here, yoi..."

"No!" Luffy practically snarls it, though he still doesn't look up. "I already lost Sanji and Law and Robin!" The unspoken _I can't lose Ace too_ rings loud and clear on the air.

Marco is silent for a second. When Luffy looks up at him, his eyes are sad. "Marco?"

The man lets out a puff of air through his teeth and looks at the ground, a bitter chuckle escaping from his throat. "Sorry, yoi. You just remind me a lot of your brother."

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks, unfolding slightly.

"He spoke like that. Told me once that he didn't want anything else to burn," Marco replies vaguely, nostalgia thick in his voice. "I'm guessing you two were close, yoi?"

"Mmhm!" Luffy unfolds further still, letting his legs slip down until they're folded under him. "All three of us!"

"I'm glad." Marco stands, stretching his arms out, and says, "Don't pay attention to the dreams. I'm sure they don't mean anything, yoi." He strolls towards the door and when he reaches it, he glances back at Luffy, who is still lying on the guest room's bed. "I'll be in the meeting room if you need anything."

Luffy nods mutely and watches Marco go. He understands why Ace liked him.

The rubbery teen flops back onto the bed, frowning at the ceiling. Ace's execution is in a week now. The Moby Dick, as well as an armada of other revolutionary ships, are anchored at an island a few mere miles from Marineford. The last few days have been a mad scramble to make preparations, tactics being arranged and fighters being organised. Shanks and Whitebeard have been in touch, and apparently Luffy's father is going to attack from the other side. The pirate captain has his own hoard of allies to fight alongside him. They make a formidable force - the Revolutionary Army's only worry is that the navy and the Foxes are more so.

Anticipation has been boiling through Luffy for days. The intensity of it is new, something he's never felt, caught between anticipation and apprehension. His brother is going to be there. Maybe Sabo will be there. The teen's heart clenches at the memory of that photograph, and his gut churns. Neither of his brothers are doing all that well at the moment.

Suddenly, the door slams open with a bang. Zoro runs in, closely followed by Usopp, panting hard and looking urgent. "Luffy," the swordsman grits out, "We have a situation."

Luffy jumps up, instantly alert. "Zoro, Usopp? What is it?"

"Just follow us!" replies Usopp quickly. His voice is shaking slightly, half with fear and half with something else.

Luffy doesn't need persuading. The trio run out of the room and down the corridor, through the bowels of the massive ship, feet pounding on sturdy wood. The rubber captain's heart pounds in his ears. They ascend one flight of stairs, then another, and soon emerge onto the deck.

It takes Luffy a few seconds to register what he's seeing. The deck is mostly empty, and a few figures stand in the middle. The other strawhats. They look to Luffy desperately, as if they expect him to know how to deal with this, and their eyes are filled with concern. In the centre of their small huddle is Nami. Except... she doesn't look like Nami. Her eyes are wide and her face is horrified, and she's motionless. In her hands is a newspaper. Nobody moves for a moment, and the silence hangs like a knife.

"Nami...?" Luffy asks in a surprisingly small voice, taking a step forwards with caution.

Something seems to jolt through Nami like an electric shock and she slumps, helpless, to her knees. This is all it takes for Luffy to run forwards, alarmed, and sink to his knees by her side. "Nami, what's wrong?!"

When he tries to touch her arm to read the headline of the newpaper, however, Nami jerks away. Her eyes are dark and furious, filled with more fire than even Ace's used to be, burning like hot coals. She throws down the newspaper with a small, choked noise, like her own grief is trying to force its way out of her chest. Luffy backs off slightly, wide-eyed, as she stands. The navigator's eyes are filled with tears but still, they burn.

Zoro reaches out to touch her shoulder, maybe to turn her to face them, and the girl lashes out in a split second. One second Zoro looks confused and concerned - the next, he's reeling back with a roar of pain as Nami spins and sinks her fist into his jaw. He doesn't fall, but blood starts to run in a steady stream from his nose, staining his white shirt. As he stumbles back, cursing, Nami pulls back her fist and wipes it clean on her shirt. Two or three of her knuckles are split, but she doesn't wince. As the rest of the crew stare, the sixteen-year old says, "Don't touch me."

With that she turns, orange hair flying, and storms towards the main cabin in the opposite direction. Nobody goes after her. The only audible sound that comes from the group is the sound of Zoro's muffled cursing as he tries to stop the bleeding and, after second, Chopper's worried exclamations about the swordsman's condition. Luffy looks down at the floor, expression unreadable. His eyes soon land on the newspaper and though the look on his face doesn't change, regret stabs through his chest at the sight of it. As he picks it up, barely able to read but able to at least decipher the title, the captain swears the waves are pounding a funeral march on the side of the ship.

* * *

 _"Don't be u-upset. I'll be able to tell Leo that- that J-Jake misses him." Ace's voice thins with every word, choked on his emotion. **Not again** , Luffy prays, **don't make me watch this again.** How many times does he have to see Ace die?_

 _"D-Don't talk like that! No!" Luffy cries out, but his voice cracks. They fall further to the floor, slipping on the blood-slicked ground. "Please don't say that…!"_

"Luffy, you need to wake up, yoi."

This time, the young captain wakes in a calmer manner, eyes slipping open slowly to land on Marco's face. The older man looks slightly healthier than the last time Luffy saw him, but his face is twisted into a look of concern. As Luffy examines his expression, he tries to regulate his breathing, panic slipping slowly out of his system.

"The same dream again?" Marco asks, shifting backwards on the bed to give Luffy some space. "You were crying in your sleep, yoi."

Luffy reaches up, disbelieving, only to find that his face really is wet. His eyes feel numb and hot in their sockets, crusted with tears and sleep, and he rubs at them furiously for a second. Marco has the decency to turn away for a minute.

Once Luffy is done scrubbing all evidence of the nightmare from his face, he glances up at Marco, head cocked to the side. "Why are you doing this?" he asks after a second, breaking the silence.

"Doing what?"

"Helping. I mean, you've stayed in here with me for the last few days just to wake me 'cause the nightmares are bad, but don't you have better stuff to do?" Luffy pushes himself up, body stiff, and clicks his fingers one by one.

Marco chuckles. "I'll tell you the same thing I told Ace – you're not the only one who gets nightmares. I'm the second-in-command of the whole Revolutionary Army. Even if you're not officially one of us, you're Ace's family, and his family is our family. Alright, yoi?"

Luffy searches the older man's face for a few seconds, expression blank, before his own suddenly breaks into a grin. "Alright, Mango!"

"It's Mar-"

"Hey, have you seen Nami?"

Marco's face falls. "She's in the crow's nest, yoi. Hasn't come down since she ran up there. It's been hours."

Luffy stares at the ceiling for a second, as if actually considering what he's going to do, before nodding to himself and standing. Marco stands too, still keeping a comfortable distance between them. Still treating Luffy like an equal, not a weak kid, even with all that he's done for the teen. Luffy appreciates it.

"I'll go up to see her." Luffy darts towards the door. When he's just about to leave it, he turns to Marco and grins. "Thanks for everything, Marco!"

Before Marco can reply, before he can even process what Luffy just said, the kid runs out of the room and down the corridor. Marco is used to taking care of _his_ crew; now Luffy needs to take care of his own. The corridors pass quickly, and by the time Luffy gets to the deck, the sun is already rising. The smell of sea-salt on the air is thick and strong. Down here in the south, it's hotter and more humid than up north, and the sun beats down without mercy. Zoro is sitting at the foot of the crow's nest when he reaches it, and nods to Luffy as he approaches, standing.

"She's not doing too good," he says quietly.

"Then let's go help her," Luffy replies without missing a beat. Captain and first mate share a look of understanding for a second. They don't feel much like teenagers anymore.

Before Luffy can start to scale the rigging, however, a yell echoes across the deck. A lookout stationed near the hull has apparently spotted something, and turns to yell for Marco, who's only just emerging onto the main deck..

"Marco-taichou!" Her next words make Luffy's heart leap in his chest. "One of Shanks' ships is approaching!"

* * *

The boy wakes to the quiet hubbub of conversation buzzing through the room around him. It's a sharp contrast to what he's used to waking up to – the loud shouts and laughter of the men in the galley, raucous yelling and the occasional smash of furniture being broken. The surface beneath him is also, strangely, very soft. It's something he hasn't felt in years. He's close to melting into it, boneless and sleepy, when he remembers just how he got here.

Jake sits up quickly, head spinning with the movement, and somebody yells, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Kid, calm down!"

Once his vision clears, the fourteen-year old can see a man with scarlet hair peering at him with concern. Jake is lying in some kind of infirmary, and he and the red-haired man are the only ones here. Conversation floats through the ajar door behind the man, who is looking Jake up and down curiously. He stares right back for a second, still disorientated, before ducking his head quickly. Making eye contact is one way to get them angry.

"Sorry," Jake mutters, voice as quiet as he can get it while still being audible.

"For what?"

Jake can't come up with a good answer. Instead, he continues to look down. Awkward silence reigns for a second, before the man says, "Well, anyway, I'm Shanks. Captain of the Red-Haired Pirates. We sabotaged one of Blackbeard's ships. Guessed you weren't one of them, by the bruises."

Nodding minutely, the teen chances a look up. Shanks is still looking at him curiously, with no hostility in his face. If anything, he seems curious. "I'm not, yeah," Jake replies quietly. "Thank you for taking me with you. I'll try to pay you ba-"

"Nonsense!" Shanks actually _grins_ , carefree and friendly. "We only did what any decent people would do."

"O-Okay, uh, thank you anyway...?"

Jake winces, hoping that wasn't the wrong thing to say, but Shanks just laughs. After a second or two, his chuckles tail off and he stretches in his seat. It doesn't look comfortable, and Jake wonders how long he's been sitting by his bedside.

"We're taking you to the Moby Dick - the revs' ship - 'cause they'll probably be able to patch you up better than us. Do you know anybody in the Revolutionary Army?"

"I was one of the Blackbeard Pirates' cabin boys for five years, sir. My big brother meant to join them, but I don't know whether he actually did, sir." Jake keeps his head down still, not daring to meet Shanks' eyes. He can't risk it.

"Alright, well he might be there - we'll have to find out." Shanks stands from his seat, glancing to the door. "We should be there soon. I'll come and grab you when we reach them, okay?" Jake nods, not looking up.

Shanks' footsteps move towards the door. Adrenaline is throbbing beneath Jake's skin. He didn't say anything wrong. He's staying alive, at least for now. Thank god.

"Kid?" Jake's instincts betray him, and he looks up into warm, brown eyes. "You don't have to call me 'sir'. We're not them."

Before Jake can answer, Shanks has smiled and turned and left. The fourteen-year old is left alone in the room, looking down at his bruised hands, marvelling slightly at what just happened. So much has changed in barely a few hours. He's no longer a slave. He might even see his brother again. And this man, with red hair and warm eyes, doesn't seem to care who Jake used to be. He just seems to want treat him like an equal. Which has _never_ happened.

Has it really come crashing down so fast?

Somebody above deck suddenly yells, "We've got eyes on the Moby!" Jake pushes himself up, trying to ignore the aching in his limbs, and stumbles towards the infirmary door. When he gets there, however, he hesitates. The world outside of that door is foreign and unknown to him. For all he knows, this is some trap. Some big joke, to entertain the crewmates.

Before Jake can worry about this anymore, however, Shanks shoulders his way through the door and into the room. "Hey! You didn't have to get up on your own, now the doc's gonna kill me!" Even though Shanks' tone is teasing, Jake can't stop himself from flinching.

"Sorry, si- _Shanks_." Jake manages to contain his shivers as Shanks slides an arm under his own and helps him out of the room, noting that the touch is actually relatively gentle.

"It's no problem, kid, I was just asking." Shanks chuckles, but this time it sounds a little sad.

Together, they edge up the corridor, taking their time as Jake's limbs betray him and shake and shiver. Soon, the pair reach a door that leads out into the sunlight. Jake takes a moment to bask in it, forgetting his worries for a split second as the warmth rushes over him and sinks into his skin. When was the last time he stood in the sunlight? When was the last time he even felt this warm? Shanks says nothing, and soon Jake turns back to him, snapped out of his near trance. Feeling the sun on his skin again is good, but the possibility of seeing his brother again is better.

However, when Jake turns, he's shocked into a stupor yet again. The ship towering over theirs is so large in comparison that it sends a monstrous shadow over half of the deck, blotting out a huge chunk of the sky. Silhouetted by the ocean and the clouds, it sails alongside Shanks' ship as if meeting up with an ally, or an equal.

"Shanks!"

The booming voice that echoes from the monstrous ship resounds over the ocean around them, seeming to make the waves quiver themselves. Jake takes a small step backwards, eyes wide, but before he knows what's happening Shanks is pulling him along to board the ship, and he can do nothing but follow.

* * *

Luffy runs towards the railing, unable to control a small whoop of excitement, previous mission forgotten. Revolutionaries around the deck turn and stare, curious, as the young captain tugs on Zoro's arm to get him to hurry up and get to the side of the ship. The swordsman hears somebody say within their own conversation, "He's Ace's brother, remember? Shanks must be his father."

Just before Luffy reaches the port side, two figures pull themselves up over the side of the ship - or, rather, one pulls the other up and over. Once the sun stops silhouetting them and they can make out their faces, Luffy cheers and lunges forwards, knocking aside a small, skinny boy to pounce on Shanks with a laugh. "Dad!"

"Oof- Luffy!" Despite being obviously winded, Shanks hugs back enthusiastically. As they reunite, both beaming, Zoro turns his gaze to the small boy Shanks brought on with him. He has pale skin and eastern grey eyes, with sandy brown hair sticking up in every direction, and looks intimidated by both the size of the ship and its occupants. There are some half-faded bruises coating his face, like gruesome war paint, and they sink deeply into the hollows in his cheeks as if they've been there his whole life.

The boy notices Zoro's stare and flushes, looking down at the ground. Casually, Zoro lets his gaze flit back to Luffy and Shanks as if it never left them, just as they pull apart.

"How are you, Luffy?" Shanks laughs, hair sticking up everywhere from the force with which Luffy tackled him. After a second, he notices the small boy standing awkwardly by his side and grabs his arm. "This is Jake. We came to drop him off here."

Luffy tilts his head to the side. "Why?"

Shanks leans in as if to whisper some big secret, eyes glinting. "'Cause the revs are a bunch of pansies who take in kids-"

"Shanks. What's this I hear about us being pansies?"

Shanks' head snaps up and his eyes meet Whitebeard's, the man having just made his way over. "Whitebeard."

The old man rolls his eyes, as if Shanks is some petulant child, but only says, "What did you say you came here for?"

"Oh, yeah." Shanks grabs Jake's arm and pulls him forwards, and Zoro can see his small shoulders shaking. "Jake here says his brother might have joined you."

Whitebeard turns his gaze on the small boy, who flinches under it, looking down. "What's his name, son?"

"L-Leo, sir," Jake replies, voice shaking but clear.

A woman just passing them, pink hair tied back into a sloppy bun, pauses and turns to look at Jake. Her eyes are both curious and regretful. "Sorry, did you just say Leo?"

A few people surrounding them stop talking, more eyes landing on Jake. He nods shyly, saying, "That's my brother. D-Do you know him?"

The pink-haired woman winces, looking at the ground. "I won't be like Marco here and lie about it - I'm sorry, kid. Leo used to be our second division commander. He was killed on a mission two years ago."

Jake's eyes widen, pupils dilating, and he stumbles back a few steps. "That can't... A-Are you sure there isn't anybody else called Leo?" His back hits the railing. "He has black hair- and pale skin, and he's really tall. A-And he has grey eyes...!"

The pink-haired woman shakes her head sadly. "Had," she says simply. "I'm sorry. We'll still offer you a place to stay if you need it, but we can't bring Leo."

Jake stares at the floor and nods, and Zoro can see the grief in his eyes and lining his shaking frame. Even Luffy has stopped bouncing around, concerned now, though he's sting hanging off Shanks' arm like a monkey. "Okay," replies Jake softly. He seems unable to look up. The woman and Whitebeard exchange knowing looks, and she steps forwards, getting Jake's attention without touching him.

"Would you be comfortable with going to the infirmary so we can check you over?"

Jake nods, still not looking up, and allows himself to be ushered away. He shoots a look at Shanks over his shoulder, a little fear swimming in stormy grey eyes, but the pirate gives him an encouraging smile before he's pulled below deck. Once Jake is out of sight, however, Shanks' smile falls in a split second. He and Whitebeard meet eyes again, and this time, they both look grim.

Zoro senses that the coming conversation is one they probably don't want to be caught up in and grabs Luffy's arm, tugging him away despite his protests. When the pair are a safe distance away, the rubber captain straightens his straw hat and says, "That Jake kid was weird. He seemed like a real wimp!"

Zoro rolls his eyes at Luffy's insensitivity but doesn't comment on it. He finds his eyes drawn to the ocean again, the sea which has befriended them all this time, and notes that anticipation is churning inside him. Inside all of them. Luffy runs off, leaving the swordsman to his own thoughts, and Zoro gives a small sigh.

Something tells him that not all of them are going to make it out of this war.

 **(line break)**

 **Sorry if this is a lil incoherent. I have like four friends lecturing me abt getting enough sleep. Tired...**

 **ALSO. MY LIL BRO IS ANSWERING REVIEWS WITH ME TODAY! HIS NAAME IS TY AND HE NEEDS TO SLEEP LMAO. YOU CAN FIND HIM ON TUMBLR lostorbit OR HERE Tetsik.**

 **AsunaLucy, Chapter 35, Jul 11:**

 ** _so the imortal one is definatly rayleigh right. thanks for chrushing my soul by the way._**

 **Hey! Anytime! Im laughing really hard rn!  
Ty: don't worry. my soul gets crushed in advanced thanks to a certain author.**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 35, Jul 11:**

 ** _AGAIN I READ THIS IN ADVANCE  
IT HITS ME  
FEELS  
EVERYTIME  
ICANTEVENWRITEAPROPERRESPONSE  
MEANIE BO PEANIE._**

 **I just love being mean. Wtf. Im an awful older sister but I don't care.**

 **YJV, Chapter 35, Jul 11:**

 ** _Oh wow, yes! They finally get out of that hell hole! But what about the other people in that place? And what about Thatch? And Ace and Sabo finally get to talk to each other again! Although briefly. But what's with the last part of the last chapter? QwQ_**

 **Hey! Yep, they're finally out :D whoop! And don't worry, that'll be revealed in the next chapter I promise! But thatch….thatch is dead, yall. AND YEAH THE BOIS… I LOVE THEM  
and who even knows what's going on there anymore lmao  
thanks for reviewing!  
Ty: again since im sorta betaing for this I know some things.  
don't buy the innocent act of the author.**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 35, 17h ago:**

 ** _Oh look, it's my emotions. Trying to clobber me to death. Huh._**

 **Again, im laughing so gd hard this is amazing  
Ty: SAME. Spade here is the meanest kid on the block.**

 **turnipdragon, Chapter 35, 17h ago:**

 ** _FREEDOM YAS. I AM ALL READY FOR MISSION IMPOSSIBLE SABO, but he still won't save ace ToT._**

 **THE REVIEW WAS PERFECT AND THEN YOU ADDED THE LAST PART. ASDFGHJM. I AM LIVING.  
Ty: poor poor child. you'll end up being another victim of spade's sick twisted ways.**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 35, 11h ago:**

 ** _GOOD JOB YOU FUCKS NOW THE FUCKING PURGATORY VOID IS DISSOLVING WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO ALL THE DEAD PEOPLE HUH? Y'ALL ARE GONNA DIE AND I HAVE NO SYMPATHY BECAUSE ACE IS ALSO FUCKING DEAD AND SABO ISNT GOING TO ARRIVE IN TIME AND NOTHING IS ALRIGHT ANYMORE AAAAAAAAAAAAAA_**

 **Asdfghjk im crying?  
im sorry for giving you pain friend. Well. not really but yknow  
Ty: *distant laughter***

 **Guest, Chapter 35, 10h ago:**

 ** _I loved Sabo and Ace talking again, I really want the brothers to be well and together though going by your last answer I doubt it. Finding out that Perona was worried about how Zoro was doing now was really touching. Since it seems they got out I can't wait to see what happens now with Sabo set on finding Ace... Thanks for the hugs and for the update_**

 **Heyo!  
I'm glad you're liking it- im loving it rn too! And yeah, poor perona D: im glad her bro's still alive though. And definitely staying that way.  
I'll update soon, thanks for reviewing!**


	37. 3-6 - Breathe

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **asdfghjkl this took SO LONG and im SO SORRY**

* * *

 **Chapter 37 – Breathe**

* * *

Cold rushes in from every side, salt water forcing itself up Sabo's nose and into his mouth with what feels like a thousand tonnes of pressure all at once. He flails madly for a second, darkness all around him, being battered on every side by the churning, raging water around him. Both of his ears pop painfully. Then he breaks the surface with a frantic gasp, swallowing what must be half a bucket of seawater but breathing in sweet, merciful _oxygen_. It fills his lungs and Sabo takes frenzied breaths, water stinging his eyes, shivering and small in the middle of the vast ocean. He paddles frantically, barely able to keep his head above the waves for a few seconds.

Then he remembers – _Law_. With a curse, Sabo scans the waters around him, desperate to catch some glimpse of the introverted doctor. Nothing. Sunlight glints off the royal blue waves, almost blinding Sabo, and he squints into the depths below. For a second he panics, thinking Law might have been caught in an undercurrent, before he catches sight of a dark shape in the water beneath his feet. Without hesitation he dives, uncaring of whether it's a shark or something worse, only following his instincts. The world closes in around him again but Sabo forces his eyes open, ignoring their stinging as salt enters them, searching through the water for any sign of his friend.

There. He pushes downwards, away from the light above, legs kicking frantically. Sabo stretches, hands reaching desperately through the empty water for a second before finally closing on the back of Law's t-shirt. Relieved, he pulls the doctor closer to him and kicks towards the surface, air depleting in his lungs, limbs screaming with pain. For one heartstopping moment, the air in his chest contracts and he can't breathe. Then, they both break the surface.

Sabo coughs raggedly, drawing in huge gulps of air before quickly turning his attention to Law. It takes all of the blonde's diminished energy just to keep both of their heads above the water. Law is limp and unresponsive, and Sabo can't help but let out a yelp when he sees that his chest is bleeding lightly.

"Law? Law, speak to me!"

Suddenly, something - or someone - bursts out of the water a few feet away. They, like Sabo just did, draw in a huge gulp of air. When they finally mange to steady themselves, breathing heavily, their eyes meet Sabo's. The blond looks the other man up and down for a second - he's got auburn hair and a strange mask over his eyes, which stretches just above his very long sideburns. There's an unusual hat perched on his head that reminds Law of some kind of beak, strangely. There's a scar in the shape of an 'X' on his chin.

Sabo opens his mouth to ask for help, Law feeling heavier in his arms with every passing second, when somebody else suddenly breaks the surface even closer to Sabo. She whoops, flipping wet, pink hair back off her face, and when she catches sight of Sabo and Law, she grins like a cat that's got the cream. "You look like you're having a nice swim!"

Once again, before Sabo can answer, somebody else surfaces - then another person, then another, until a hoard of shivering, mismatched people fill a patch of ocean. Shouts ring out - of joy, anger, confusion - as all of these outlaws, the occupants of Stormy Down, are thrown into one small area, less than the size of a football pitch.

The hubbub only comes to an abrupt halt when somebody yells, "Ship!"

Sabo's head snaps up, jolting Law's frame, and he almost melts in relief when he catches sight of the moderately sized ship in the horizon. Then again, he wonders with a sinking heart, which ship would be willing to pick up a group of soaked, mostly violent strangers from the waters of the no-man's land? Either way; it still means hope. He starts to swim forwards, slowly but surely, but only ends up really moving when something large, wet and fury joins the effort in getting Law across. Sabo glances up and blanches - a giant polar bear. A _giant polar bear_.

"Uh, hi?" Sabo asks, as the huge creature starts to guide them towards the boat. People swarm alongside them, old and young, all ragged and unhealthy-looking but all with relief in their eyes. Sabo feels as if his chest has expanded, blood warmer and more alive, eyes sharper now that he's away from that place. It really does take away everything you are.

The ship gets closer and closer, evidently heading right for them, and Sabo's eyebrows raise when he realises that the brightly-coloured boat has a huge figurehead in the shape of a fish, mouth open. The ship itself is mainly pale green and deep red, sails striped with white and yellow as they billow in the wind, and the word 'BARATIE' is inscribed on the side. It glides through the waters towards them, paint bright in the sun, and everybody in the water swims for it desperately. It looks larger than Sabo first thought. Maybe, just maybe, it will take them.

"Need a hand?" a voice yells from the ship, and Sabo's heart leaps as a figure with blonde hair leans over the railing. "We're taking in travellers headed south!"

A thousand voices explode around Sabo all at once, some begging for someplace safe or dry to go, others telling the man to go fuck himself, others still just crying with no words. The ex-soldier himself yells, "Please, my friend is wounded! His blood might attract sharks!"

The gaze of the blonde man at the railing falls onto him, the ship drawing closer with every second, and they meet eyes for a second. Then, he nods and darts backwards from the railing and out of sight. A second of silence passes, shattered occasionally by angry shouts or sobs from the mismatched crowd, before he reappears along with five or six others. These others are all dressed in white suits, like chefs, and they throw over ropes for people to grab.

The crowd surges forwards as one, water churning up as people kick and fight to make it through the icy waters. Somebody's foot lashes out into Sabo's stomach hard and he chokes out a yell of pain, curling in on himself in the water, barely staying afloat. Luckily, the large bear from before is there, and together, they manage to haul Law over to one of the ropes. The polar bear helps to heave Law over Sabo's back and after securing him, the blonde hefts himself out of the water, sopping wet and shivering. He climbs, Law a deadweight on his back, and when he gets to the railing, the blonde man from before gives him a hand up.

Sabo doesn't pay attention to the man, laying Law out on the deck and feeling for a pulse in his cold, damp wrist, until he hears him gasp. Looking up, he can see that the blonde man is staring at Law in both horror and _recognition_. Then, in a split second, his other features register to Sabo. Blonde hair, falling over one eye. Curled eyebrows. Western blue eyes.

 _Sanji_. A million emotions roar through Sabo at once, shooting through him like cannonballs, and he stumbles to his feet with wide eyes. Sanji turns to look at him, eyebrow raised. This time, there's no recognition in his face.

"Sanji?" Sabo asks, voice confused and hopeful at the same time. It comes out quieter than he'd expected, but a few of the chefs look over in confusion.

"Do I know you?" replies Sanji.

Sabo chokes on a laugh, incredulous but at the same time overjoyed, Law forgotten. "It's been a few years now, but surely you recognise me?"

Maybe it's his accent, maybe it's the fact that Sanji is finally looking at him properly; either way, something clicks in Sanji's mind and he blanches. The world around the pair seems to freeze up for a few seconds, thick and dense as ice, before Sanji mutters, "…Sabo?!"

Another laugh escapes Sabo, this time far more sincere but still incredulous, and he takes a cautious step forwards. "In the flesh," he manages to get out, before Sanji steps forwards, face open and blank with shock, and he closes the distance between them. The younger blonde hits Sabo's back harder than necessary as they hug, and Sabo doesn't mention the pain that shoots through his body at motion because he figures that they both deserve it – they were both idiots, neither considering the idea that the other might be alive, both giving up hope far too early.

Sanji pulls himself away, stumbling over his words, and neither of them really knows what to say. "What- what the hell happened to you?!"

"I should be the one asking you th-"

"Black leg-ya?"

Law's voice, thick with exhaustion but as dry as a desert, floats up towards the pair and they freeze, both looking down at him. It takes a second for the pieces to fit together in Sabo's mind – Black leg, the other traitor on Luffy's crew, a Fox – but by the time they do, Sanji is already across the deck. He kicks Law in the face, hard enough to make his head smash into the deck with a sickening crack, rage on his face.

"Now the mark is gone I can finally do _that_ , you shitty sonofa-"

He goes in for another kick but Sabo manages to hold the enraged teen back in the nick of time, alarmed but also slightly relieved. Sanji is exactly as Law had described him; he's angry, frustrated at what Law did to his captain, indignant and pained by the fact that he had a part in it. He never wanted to be a Fox, and that much is obvious. Maybe he is loyal to Luffy after all.

Sanji struggles hard. "Let me go!"

After only a few seconds, however, the fight seems to leave the cook. He slumps back with a low growl, still angry but no longer fighting hard. Cautiously, Sabo releases him. The pair look each other in the eyes for a minute before Sanji mutters, "Fuck it," and pulls the other back into a rough embrace. They stay like that for a second, soaking in the fact that their adoptive brother is even there, before breaking apart. Now, Sabo is grinning.

Beneath the pair, Law groans in pain and swears at them.

* * *

"That's Zeff," Sanji mutters, pulling Sabo to a stop outside of the main restaurant. "He's taking in people who want to travel south to fight. I mean-" He suddenly starts, glancing up at the other with wide eyes, and says, "Wait – Ace… He's your…"

"Yeah," Sabo replies grimly. "You didn't know?"

"I only just remembered. It's been… A bit crazy since me and Law-" Sanji cuts off suddenly, uncomfortable. "Once the Foxes' mark disappeared, they lost control of me and I swam away. I was close to drowning when they picked me up."

Sabo doesn't need to ask why. No matter how hard he tries, his eyes keep being drawn to Sanji's arm; or lack thereof. That's one thing Law never mentioned when he told Sabo about 'Black-leg'. Right up to the shoulder, his arm has been amputated, and bandages are visible through the arm of his black jacket. It must have been a few months ago at most. Was Law the one to heal him, or the Strawhats' doctor? What enemy did Sanji give that arm up to?

Sanji catches him staring and turns away, lips curling downwards into a scowl. "'s nothing."

"It's not _nothing_. What happened?" Sabo decides to forgo tact.

"I could ask you the same thing." Sanji turns, eyes riveted to the area of rough skin on Sabo's face.

"Ah- About that," replies the older blonde, "Do you have a mirror?"

"A mirror?" asks Sanji, confused. "Sure, but why do you need one?"

Sabo sighs, swallowing, knowing that he'll have to explain this god knows how many times. "There's a gap in my memory. You know all of us came from Stormy Down?" Sanji nods. "Before that, I was working undercover in a marine base. The last thing I remember is going to bed at the base, and then somebody dragging me out of bed in the night- and apparently it's been months since that happened, but I only remember everything after a few days ago. The time between when I was at the base and when I was in Stormy Down is just… gone from my memory, I guess. And so is whatever happened to my face."

Sanji searches his face for a second before snorting, turning away to light a cigarette. It takes him a few seconds, fumbling with the lighter, trying to get a spark. Puffing out a mouthful of smoke that hangs in the air, he pockets the lighter and says around his cigarette, "Luffy talks a lot about you. And Ace. We got it out of a few of the others that all of you came from Stormy Down – something that's pretty hard to believe – so I guess… Down there, Law told you about what happened with me and the Strawhats?"

Nodding, Sabo turns towards the railing and looks out over the ocean. It looks so tranquil; it's a complete contrast to what's going on in the world right now. The war they're all getting sucked into. "He did. And I get that it wasn't your fault. I just hope to god he's okay. If he's not…" Sabo's eyes slip from the horizon to the darker waters below. "I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive you for that. Mind-controlled or not."

"I feel the same way," Sanji assures him, as they both start making their way towards the med bay, where Law is being looked at. They walk in comfortable silence for a while, Sabo still looking out over the ocean.

By the time the pair reach the med bay, Law is already awake, slinging out sarcasm like confetti. He looks up when the two blonde's enter, brow furrowed in annoyance. "Apparently, 'I was attacked by a nine-year old nonmaterial Gifted entity with the ability to steal my soul' isn't a valid excuse for my ailments."

"Never would've guessed," Sabo fires back without missing a beat. "Is that what the bleeding was caused by, then?"

Law nods, trying to sit up and hiding an obvious wince. "There's a large chunk of skin missing from my chest, Sabo-ya," he says dryly. "In the shape of a dove. _Perona's_ dove."

Sabo moves to sit in the chair beside the older man's hospital bed, saying, "Maybe she didn't like you."

"I could have guessed that."

Neither speaks for a second before Sabo leans forwards, resting his forehead against the metal railing around the bed. "Ace is unconscious. And, as far as I can tell, in pain."

Law snorts. "Should I even ask how you know?"

"No," answers Sabo immediately. Silence presses down on them again before the younger of the pair turns back towards the door, where Sanji is standing. "Could we have a minute?"

The cook hesitates, before nodding and turning away. He shoots Law a sullen glare on his way out. As soon as he's gone, Law asks, "How do you two know each other? Or do you have a habit of hugging random strangers?"

"He went to the same orphanage as me when I was a kid," answers Sabo. "I'd never imagined that he and Black-leg could be the same person, though. How did you say they got control of him again?"

Law turns towards the window beside his bed. Outside, it's grown dark. "Maybe you should ask him that yourself, Sabo-ya."

Suddenly, the man with the 'X' scar on his chin pokes his head in. He makes eye contact with Sabo, blue eyes meeting grey, and says, "They want all the survivors on deck. Now."

When he leaves, Law rolls his eyes and says, "Seemed like a pleasant man." Sabo starts laughing, and soon the doctor does too. After a few moments, once their laughter has died down, Sabo helps Law up and they start the painstaking trek up onto deck, taking it slow due to the exhaustion both have suffered, as well as Law's chest injury.

Out on the main deck, it's chaos. The former residents of Stormy Down are scattered everywhere, some yelling, some crying, others sitting down and simply relearning how to breathe again, staring at nothing. There's a small cluster of people near the railing – Sabo can see a fishman, an old man with white hair, the pink-haired girl he saw in the water and a few others, including the polar bear – and when they see Law, all of their faces darken. The doctor curses and grabs Sabo's arm, pulling him in the other direction until the group are out of sight. "Those are the people I used to travel with," he mutters, "And they probably aren't too happy that I left them for some infected kid."

Sabo nods. As they walk, he has to stop every now and then to support his friend. Technically, Law shouldn't even be out of bed, but even Sabo admits that this might be too important to miss. Sanji has disappeared off somewhere, most likely still fuming at Law, and the population of Stormy Down are gathered on deck. There are less of the, than Sabo had thought, a hundred at most, though who knows how many died down there? Maybe it's no wonder the population is so low, he realises with a shiver. As he and Law walk, they pass by a multitude of strange people; a portly man with a necktie, fedora and cigar who resembles some kind of mafia boss; a man with strange three-pointed eyebrows and long blonde hair; somebody with a long sword and a blue and white face-mask; another person who appears to have four elbows instead of two; somebody with honest-to-god _wings_ ; the list goes on and on.

Sabo sidesteps an embracing couple – a woman with a partially shaved head of pink hair and a man with blonde hair – but Law's sharp inhale stops him in his tracks. The ex-soldier turns to see Law staring open-mouthed at the blonde man, face slack with shock, eyes wide. The man he's fixated on stares right back, skin drenched in a layer of grime that creates marks like speckled eggshells where it's sunken into his pores. His shaggy blonde hair falls into his eyes, which – like Sanji's – are western blue. The only resemblance Sabo can find between this man and Law is the fact that both have eyes ringed by dark circles, and that applies to nearly all of the people of Stormy Down. The stranger's marine uniform doesn't look nearly as weathered as Sabo's, which might mean that he was there for less time than him.

 _"Cora-san?!"_

 _"Law!"_

* * *

Sabo ends up sleeping on-deck, staring up at the stars, and only then does he really have time to breathe. To contemplate everything that's changed in the last few mere hours. Stormy Down is destroyed, and even though he knows it's not, Sabo can close his eyes and pretend it's all some bad dream. The mere memory of that place makes his skin break out in goosebumps. It feels like the unexploded mine in his head, the one thing holding back his memories from bursting to the surface, is pulsing more fiercely now that he's above the surface. It's close to giving in, and he isn't sure whether that's a good thing. Anticipation rules every sensation Sabo has.

Most of the Stormy Down residents, or 'downers', as the chefs have dubbed them, are being dropped off at the next island tomorrow. A few, however, are staying to brave the journey south, and the war that awaits them there. Sabo is one of them. Law and his adoptive father are others. Bellemere – a woman who was apparently a spy in the east for the revs and got caught – has decided to come too, because she wants to stay with Corazon, who is apparently one of her childhood friends. They reunited through Stormy Down.

The other downers staying are few and far between. Kidd, Bepo, Bonney, Rayleigh and Jinbei are taking the journey, for one. They used to be the group Law travelled with, and he's been skilfully avoiding them all evening. The others staying are mismatched, most being either part of revolutionary groups or ex-anarchists. Some are coming to fight in the fight that will surely change all of their fates. Others are coming for the thrill of the battle. Others still travel in hope of reuniting with lost loved ones as the greatest powers of the turbulent age clash.

Altogether, there are sixteen of them staying. They certainly look an odd bunch, mismatched and with no traits linking one to the other. Out of the corner of his eye, Sabo can make out the list on which Zeff wrote their names.

 _Law – Sabo – Bellemere – Corazon – Jinbei – Bepo - Kidd – Bonney – Bege – Killer - Drake – Apoo – Urouge – Hawkins – Hancock – Olvia._

The last name sticks out to him. The other downers are easy to read; Law is irritable and solemn, Bepo is timid and compassionate, Hancock is beautiful yet haughty. But Olvia, a white-haired woman with tanned skin and unusual eyes, puts Sabo on edge. She doesn't speak. She hangs back from the group, back pressed against the railing, eyes dark. Her face is turned away from him most of the time, but Sabo can see clearly the three jagged scars that mar her skin. They rake across her face, from the top left to the bottom right, leaving deep, concaved scars embedded into her skin. They give him the shivers even from a distance.

Who is she? The name Olvia sounds southern, but Sabo couldn't be sure. He's never met anybody from _any_ of the seas with white hair, so that offers no clues. Tanned skin – possibly eastern. She's a mystery, and something about her makes Sabo want to solve it. She's lying across the deck right now, curled up against the cold. He resists the urge to glance over at her.

Law is in the infirmary, but Sabo doesn't doubt that he'll be here soon, having snuck out at the first opportunity. The doctor's old travelling group are sitting in a cluster a few feet from Sabo, and none of them come over to talk to him. He's glad for it. Bonney, with her vibrant hair and opinionated tone, is probably more than he wants to deal with right now. He's too tired.

Ace's presence flickers to life for a few seconds. Sabo can feel the depths of unconsciousness pulling at his brother, dragging him back down into oblivion, and stretches to grasp onto him. It does little good. The teen is slipping, and there's nothing Sabo can do about it.

 _…Sabo… God, please don't-_

He's gone.

Suddenly feeling far more lonely than before, Sabo curls in on himself tightly, folding his arms over his stomach. Law's old group stop talking for a second, and he can feel them glancing over, but the blonde doesn't pay them any mind. Instead, he lets his mind wander to what he's been imagining, praying for, for years.

Has Luffy finally hit a growth spurt, or is he still a scrawny midget? Is he as underfed as he was at Edgetown, or does he finally look healthy? Have the scraps of baby fat left his face? Sabo can imagine seeing him again, holding the younger boy tightly, knowing that both of his brothers are alive and well and with him again. And it's been too long to stop imagining it, to stop _wanting_ it. The thing Sabo wants more than anything is closer now than it ever will be.

On the hard, cold floor, he decides with resolve that there's no going back.

* * *

 **This chapter was WILD lmao im not that happy with it but tbh? I just hope you like it!**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _you're awfully mean and stuff ;3;_**

 **lil bro, I know. And I love it.**

 **YJV, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _Oh my God, it was all a dream? But the title of this chapter didn't really fit with the context? I don't see the relevance but I guess it's just me not thinking about it poor Jake... And Nami... Something must have happened to have made her lose it like that, Nojiko perhaps? Also, did Sabo really kill Thatch? The situation around that is kinda vague. But love it ~_**

 **Heyo!  
actually, the chapter name for the last chap was… pretty much the most meaningful/foreshadowing chapter name I've written yet. It has a bit of a hidden meaning that might be a little tough to figure out. I'll give you a few pointers:  
the king was obviously roger, right? Well, what was his 'disposition', per se? what was his Gift?  
now think about luffy. What's been happening to him since ace's execution was announced?  
now, consider this – maybe 'the king' applies not only to roger, but to luffy, in reference to one piece canon?  
OKAY MOVING ONE  
poor jake and nami, yeah… as for what might've happened – don't worry, it'll be revealed soon!  
did he indeed~  
thank you for the review, it means a lot! ily, talk soon!**

 **turnipdragon, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _This plot has the consistancy of porridge and yet it continues to thicken *0* i did not see ace's death being a haunting premonition, slowly wearing luffy down, tension :D thanks for the chappie :)_**

 **Ayyy thank you for the lovely review! Im really glad you're liking it – and tbh, the plot is like ten times thicker after this chapter lmao  
im just rollin here  
thank YOU for reviewing! ilysm!**

 **Kawaii Snowdrop, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _Sly author...though I must admit I wasn't totally convinced about the whole "Ace's death" beforehand since you mentioned at the start of this whole fic that there was going to be a section with all three brothers. Of course, ~somebody~ plot important is gonna die by the end of this (I hold out hope it won't be my ASL babies) but for now JAKE my poor sweet cinnamon roll you just need a big hug from Shanks something furry like a cat. I'd lend you mine but he's a fluff bean with claws and a taste for human flesh so...  
Keep up the good work!_**

 **Heyoo!  
im glad you're liking it – and yeah, a lot of people weren't exactly convinced either. Then again – who says luffy's premonitions aren't going to come true? I mean, my plans for this fic have changed a LOT since I wrote that. I can tell you one thing, though – you're wrong about somebody important dying. Its probably gonna be multiple people lmao  
anyway! Yes, somebody needs to cuddle the small child! Right now! I love him and I hurt him a lot. jake has a lot to him that hasn't been explored yet, so im glad nobody seems to hate him yet! He's a big part of the plot!  
send my love to your cat! And thank you for reviewing, it means so much to me :D  
talk soon!**

 **Guest, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _So many things are coming together in this chapter, the revs and Shanks are all there as well as the Strawhats, we now also have Jake and the rest are probably on their way to rescue Ace. I'm loving Marco worrying about Ace's little brother but poor Nami, I feel like it has something to do with Kaira, and I still feel like that town has more to offer... So Law will be helping against Akainu,maybe he can keep Ace alive using his room (just wishful thinking here). At least Zoro will stay alive._**

 **Hey!  
yeah, that chapter was nuts and im glad you liked it! yep, they're trying to rescue the flamey boy. Will they succeed? Who knows!  
you're right about nami. That's all im going to say. Though yes – that town does have a lot more to offer!  
hmm, that's a cool idea! Law and ace would get along, I think :)  
PFFFT YOU THINK ZORO'S GONNA STAY ALIVE  
*hugs* ily!**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _NOT EVERYONE IS GONNA MAKE IT HUH?  
WELL FUCK YOU BECAUSE EVERYONE IS GONNA FUCKIG AND YOU KNOW WHAT?  
I DONT CARE ANYMORE  
YEAH  
HIT ME WITH YOUR GOD DAMN ASS EATING SHIT CALLED ANGST IN THE FACE AS BEST AS YOU CAN YOU MOTHERFUCKER I DARE YOU TO KILL ME WITH THIS  
TRY ME_**

 **YOUR REVIEWS ARE LITERALLY THE BEST THING EVER ARI  
I AM CRYING  
YOU MADE MY MOTHERFUCKING DAY**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 36, Jul 12:**

 ** _OKAY SO WHERE DO I EVEN START BECAUSE ACE IS OBVS GONNA DIE BUT LAW KEEPS SHOWING UP AT THE END OF THE DREAM SO I AM CHOOSING TO BELIEVE HE AND SABO WILL SHOW UP AT THE LAST SECOND TO SAVE THE FUCKING DAY AND WE WILL GET A GOD DAMN HAPPY ENDING AFTER ALL THIS FUCKING INSANITY BUT ALSO FUCK YOU FOR KILLING VIVI WE ALL KNOW YOU DID IT WHERE ARE THE WATER7 SURVIVORS YOU HINTED AT? HUH? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA_**

 **Hey! Your freaking out is pure gold!  
hmm, law and sab turning up to save the day… as far as I know, they turn up quite a bit earlier. Look back at the first dream luffy has. Who do you think the other person holding ace is, now that you know it was a dream?  
happy ending? PFFT  
good question!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 35, Jul 13:**

 ** _Lmao Law nearly got beat by an angry flame boy  
Zack is- oh mY  
I try to avoid spoilers wHOOPS  
Update~_**

 **Heyoo!  
yeah, watch ur ass law he'll kill you  
I KNOW. THE BABU CHANGED HIS NAME. NOBODY ELSE COMMENTED ABOUT THAT. BUT I FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO. BECAUSE IM CRYING. FUCKING CRYING. FUCEDVK  
talk sooon!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 36, 21h ago:**

 ** _And we will keep nagging you about your wellbeing until you follow through ._.  
Yo, those nightmares •~•  
I still miss Leo, you kno  
Shanks IS a petulant child tho  
Update~_**

 **Hey!  
yes yes, ill take care of myself, I know.  
I know! Just consider one thing – what if they're more than just nightmares?  
I miss him too. I miss him so much. I cri  
yep. Shanks confirmed 5 year old lmao  
talk soon, thank you so much for reviewing! ily!**


	38. 3-7 - How to Start a War

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **the name of this chapter is a tribute to Control by my good friend Zoe (zoewinter1)! Control is an absolutely masterful rollercoaster of emotions and I've loved it all the way through! Sadly, it is ending soon but im hyped for Zoe's future in fic writing and it's definitely taking top of the list on my reread list.**

 **Here's to Control!**

* * *

 **Chapter 38 – How to Start a War**

* * *

Robin sighs, and her breath comes out as a silver spider's web on the early morning air. The sun is rising across the water. Her eyes are glued to the horizon, and she can feel her hair blowing back in the bitterly cold ocean breeze. For the south, it's unusually cold today. The woman knows better than to think it will last, however. The heat will only arrive later.

She can feel Dragon's eyes on her back, pinning her in place, and knows that he's curious. All of AANGEL are. Because Robin's worked undercover before – with the marines, within the government, with the Revolutionary Army. And she's been fine. But this time… Something about the Strawhats, about their loyalty and laughter and the strange connection that links them all, won't let her forget them. She can't cut them away. Not yet.

And considering the fact that half of the crew seem to know him, the chances are they have fought their way to the south to be here today, at the public execution of Portgas D. Ace. Maybe if Ace was less famous, maybe if he made less allies through his life, maybe if he wasn't a son of Whitebeard… Maybe this wouldn't be happening. Because this execution, Robin knows, is more than just an execution. It's a statement. It's a clash of powers, the start of a war that's been brewing for decades. This decides it all; and AANGEL are stuck smack in the middle of it, right in with the Strawhats.

Today is the day of judgement. Do his sons bring the world to its knees, or do they die trying?

At times like this, Robin feels a scrap of empathy for people like Luffy. People who, like her, have been sentenced to the death sentence for what they were born of. Whether a Gift-user, somebody detailed by a prophecy or otherwise, they're all the same. Kids trodden on by the world. Most of them making up organisations such as AANGEL.

Above, a lookout calls, "Land-ho!"

The woman turns away from the ocean, knowing that Marineford will soon be looming on the horizon. Just as it's Judgement Day for the world, it's Robin's own personal Judgement Day. The world hasn't been kind to her, not since she was born. Today will reveal one thing – what does fate really have in store for her? If the world wanted to kill her this whole time… Today is going to be the day when it gets a chance to do so.

"Robin," Dragon's grave voice says, surprisingly quietly. "Having second thoughts?"

"Of course not, Dragon-san," she responds in a perfectly level voice. "This is, after all, all we've worked towards for all this time." Robin turns, making eye contact with her leader, expression neutral. "Are you having second thoughts?"

Both criminals stare at each other for a long moment, expressions giving away nothing, hair blown about by the winds of change that are speeding towards them over the water. Then, Dragon turns away with a small grin, saying, "Of course not."

The moment of tranquillity is over. In the distance, Robin can see two more ships appearing through the morning mist; dark, ghostly shapes, they aren't part of AANGEL's small fleet. One, Robin can tell immediately is the Moby Dick. The sun glints off her wide figurehead, and she sails steadfast towards the war. The other, even though it's closer, is less easy to identify. It's a small caravel, with a catlike figurehead and reddish-brown sails that billow in the wind. From what Robin can hear the others saying, it's a ship none of them have seen before. Yet another contender to deal with.

The most Robin can do now is pray to make it to tomorrow. A shred of fear curls in her gut like paper in a flame, the smoke of panic choking her, but she ignores it. Let the fear come. Everybody here is afraid. Desperate. Hopeful. But there's nothing they can do to change things, because this war is already in motion, and this is just the summit.

They sail forwards.

* * *

Luffy feels a hand on his shoulder and flinches, whirling around-

Zoro's dark eyes meet his own, cool and level, and he catches his captain's fist in his hand even as it loses momentum. First mate and leader make eye contact for a few seconds, thousands of emotions sparking between them like fireworks, before Zoro lets go of Luffy's fist and moves to stand beside him, leaning against the railing with the sun on their backs. The younger lets the adrenaline seep from his system, paranoia leaving him, and when it does it leaves him exhausted. He didn't sleep last night, nor the night before, in fear of the nightmares he's been having since Ace's execution was announced. Dark shadows ring his eyes.

Zoro's shoulder against Luffy's own feels like an anchor. "Nami's still up in the crow's nest. She borrowed a bo staff from one of the revs, and apparently she's getting used to the feel of it."

Luffy laughs, though it feels wrong in his throat. "She stole it?"

"No," replies Zoro, and the smile slips from his face. "She said she doesn't want to steal if there's nothing to steal for."

Luffy lets his head fall until his chin rests on his chest, and both pirates stay quiet for a few minutes as the sun rises higher and higher into the sky. Against his will, the captain finds his eyelids drooping. Rest calls to him, tantalising- but at the same time, he has a battle to fight. A battle during which he can't become distracted by nightmares or anything else.

Apparently, however, Zoro has other ideas. The teen flinches again as he feels a hand on his shoulder, pushing downwards slightly. His legs give in to the light pressure and his knees buckle, sending him sliding down against the railing. The swordsman beside him, facial expression indistinguishable, shifts his captain until he's leaning back against the cool metal, shoulder touching his own, head tilted back.

"Sleep," Zoro says simply. "Marco says we have two hours or so until the fighting starts. Sleep."

Even though he knows that he shouldn't, knows that he should be up and ready to start throwing punches, Luffy can't help but shift closer to his best friend, curling his knees up with his face pressed tightly against a muscled shoulder. "Promise you'll wake me up?" he says, voice muffled.

"I promise." Once again, his voice holds no distinguishable emotion – maybe a hint of sadness, but nothing more. "Get some rest, captain."

Unwilling to fight his exhaustion anymore, Luffy lets his eyes drift closed. He dreams of Ace and Sabo- and, strangely, Jake.

* * *

"Shit- no, no, no, no, no!"

The black-haired girl curses every god she knows as the engine of the speedboat splutters and dies. Above, the sun burns down as the smell of petrol fills the air, thick and pungent. Haley coughs, covering her mouth as the sound of the chuttering engine dies around her and silence falls. The speedboat rocks gently on the waves, motionless – out of gas. Great. It took her long enough to steal the thing, and barely a few miles away from her destination, it's died.

Running a hand back through her shorn-short hair, Haley considers her options. Ace's execution is due to happen at noon and by the look of the sun, it's around eight. The air is bitterly cold, but probably won't be for much longer. It's safe to say that the water will probably be the same. The only thing Haley has with her besides the boat is a pistol with no bullets in it, a compass and a heavy cotton jacket. Neither of which will aid her much when she's out on the field. What she really needs is a lightweight weapon – something that won't weigh her down much in the water. Swimming seems like the only half-decent option right now.

The idea hits her, and the ex-revolutionary gives a small grin. Suddenly feeling glad for her overgrown fingernails, she reaches own and pries off the gunwhale frame of the speedboat and drops it carelessly into the water, not bothering to watch it sink. Then she turns, feeling around under the boat, hands running over the wet underbelly at the back where the propellers are until she reaches them. She doesn't wince as the edge of one, razor-sharp, cuts a light slice into her fingertip. Wrapping her hand around the base of the propeller, she tugs at it until it gives way with a 'crack'.

Each wing of the propeller, sharp and rounded, is about the size of her fist. They each have a thin, oval-shaped section near the bottom, parallel to the sharp blade, made of plastic. It takes a while, but Haley eventually manages to pop out each of the plastic parts, leaving just enough room for her fingers to fit through. There are four wings in total, and she puts two on each fist. It's a squeeze to get them on and her fingers throb, but she manages it. In the end, two sharp – if not exactly conventional – blades protrude from each of her fists. If she was to punch somebody in the neck with these on, their jugular would be severed instantly.

Haley tests out their weight for a few minutes, clenching her fists in front of her and congratulating herself slightly over the great find, before clenching her jaw and glancing down at the water below. There's no going back now. She reaches across and carefully grabs the compass, fastening its clip to the edge of her sweatshirt sleeve, before taking one last gulp of air and plunging into the water.

Ice floods her systems, so cold that for a second, the girl is paralysed. Then she kicks upwards, flailing out frantically, forcing herself not to draw breath. Haley hits the surface and immediately glances down at the compass, treading water and breathing heavily, salt water filling her mouth. South-east. As soon as she has the right route set out, the ex-revolutionary takes one more deep breath and begins to swim, the tide on her side, jaw clenched against the cold.

 _Just wait for me, Ace_ , she prays, knowing that he can't hear her. _I'm carrying out Leo's last wish_.

* * *

Shanks is pacing.

He hasn't stopped pacing for at least half an hour now, and it's worrying the crew. And as first mate, Benn decides that after half an hour, it's his time to step in. Nobody can fight with a mind jumbled with worry and stress. The plan to attack the island from the other side is scrapped now, due to some sort of miscommunication. Now, they all attack head-on.

"Cap'n?"

The scarlet-haired man doesn't look at him, though he does stop walking. His face is turned towards the ocean. "Yeah, Benn?"

"We all know you're worried – but pacing and stressing out the crew does nothing to help us," replies Benn flatly. If any other member of the crew spoke to Shanks like that, they would have been to deal with for insubordination. But Shanks and Benn have been friends for a very long time. And at times like this, some things just need to be said.

The pirate sighs. He turns to his first mate – and for the first time, he actually looks his age. Older. The hope in his brown eyes isn't gone entirely, but it's weathered and dimmed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. But the chances are all three of my kids are gonna be there, and you know this isn't going to be pretty – and I have a bad feeling about this. And about how it links to Roger."

Benn silently walks to stand beside his captain. "You've caught wind of the rumours too, then?"

"How could I not have?" Shanks quirks a small, hollow smile, turning to look back over the lightening ocean. The sun is far from the horizon now. "And it's not hard to figure out. They wouldn't be making such a big deal about Ace's execution if they weren't sure it was to do with one of his prophecies. His _last_ prophecy."

"And what do you think about that last prophecy?" asks Benn in a curious voice.

"Roger was only ever wrong about one thing – and he even admitted to that one, and you know what it led to. It was a fluke. But he was never wrong again. The last prophecy?" Shanks cocks his head to the side. "It'll come true somehow, even if it isn't in the way people expect."

Benn glances behind him. The crew seem less tense than before, and they've all gone back to their work, as opposed to sitting around and worrying about their captain. At least the pacing has stopped. "I'll take your word for it, captain. Now-" He frowns, taking a step away from the railing. "I have to go stop Lucky Roo from eating all of our food provisions." Benn takes off towards the other end of the _East Wind_ , growling, "Roo! You'd better not be doing what I think you're doing!"

Shanks chuckles, "Don't be too hard on him!"

As soon as his friend is gone, however, the captain turns away. The smile slides off his face at the sight of Marineford in the distance – a white and grey speck, surrounded by darkened waters. It he squints hard, he can make out the wooden execution platform, where Ace will soon be chained. _Ace_. Wild-haired, innocent, freckled Ace. Ace, who he's known since the kid was an infant. Who is apparently one of Roger's sons. Who might die today.

He knows that Luffy will be here soon – he's on the Moby, which is visible past the strange, red-brown caravel across the water. A ship none of the crew recognise. But it appears to be fighting on their side, at least, so nobody seems to be treating it with hostility. The Baratie hasn't turned up yet, though Shanks has no doubt it will – Zeff would never miss a fight like this, not for anything. There's another ship on their other side, wide and black like an old-fashioned pirate ship, which is immediately recognisable as AANGEL's. Nico Robin is visible at the bow – and Shanks is sure that all of the major competitors here recognise her instantly.

No sign of Sabo, but again, he'll probably find a way here soon. Shanks is sure that, somehow, that kid would claw his way out of hell to keep his brothers alive. He came from the west. They're probably all he has left; aside from Shanks, that is.

Without realising it, Shanks starts pacing again. He'd always envisaged seeing the three brothers again… But not like this.

By god, not like this.

* * *

Sabo wakes slowly on the rough ground, feeling a wooden board pressed against his face, with a sense of déjà vu. Once again, like there was what feels like a thousand years ago, there's something warm pressed against the curve of his spine. Law. This time, however, his breathing can be heard. This time, Law is alive.

Suddenly, memories hit Sabo in a rush and he jolts upright, heart pounding – remembering. This is it. This is the day where it all ends. Today, Ace is to be executed. And the Baratie, as well as its passengers, are heading straight into the centre of it. The blonde glances down. Law's face is scrunched up with pain this time, and he's curled around his chest, where Perona's mark is. He must have indeed snuck out of the infirmary in the night, and Sabo finds himself strangely touched by the fact that he snuck out to sleep beside him, instead of Corazon. Maybe the sullen doctor really is warming up to him.

Above, the sky is a strange concoction of blues and peaches, stained technicolour by the rising sun. The air is cold and crisp. Across the deck, he can hear Hancock yelling about something or other – probably at Kidd. Those two _really_ didn't get along last night. It was almost hilarious. He can also make out a head of white hair up in the crow's nest – Olvia, looking down on them all silently. Sabo shivers.

"Law? Oi, Law, wake up." He shakes his friend's shoulder roughly, and after a few seconds the older man glances up, opening one eye to glare harshly at the person who dared to wake him. "We'll probably be there in the next few hours. Are you sure you can fight?"

Scoffing, the doctor allows himself to be helped upright, face still taught with pain. "Don't baby me, Sabo-ya. I'm fine."

"Okay, okay!" Sabo rolls his eyes, sitting back on his heels. "And I've told you like five times now – it's just Sabo, not 'Sabo-ya' or whatever the hell you want to call me."

"Whatever you say, Sabo-ya."

"Ass."

Law laughs, but his voice cuts off as the movement causes him to give a small gasp of pain, hand moving towards his chest. "Damnitt," he manages through gritted teeth - but when Sabo reaches towards him to help, the doctor shoves him back. "I'm fine. Look – I'll go find somebody to look at it, okay?"

Before Sabo can protest, the older man stands and stalks off, limping slightly. He stares after him, considering going after him, but eventually decides against it. Sitting back against the mast, he looks resolutely out over the ocean, trying to ignore the gaze he can feel on him from above.

 _Sabo, you'd better not be coming here._

The ex-soldier jumps, holding back a yell, barely able to comprehend what he's hearing. He was so distracted by Law that he didn't even realise that Ace was conscious until he reached out to him. _Ace?! Are you okay, where are you now?!_

* * *

Ace gives his chains another half-hearted tug, though it lacks the ferocity that it did earlier. _I'm alright. I'll take it you know about the execution?_

 _I've known about it for a few days, yeah,_ Sabo's voice responds. And even though Ace is heading to his execution, even with all of the fear and pain that run rampant inside him right now, he feels like a ten-tonne weight has just been lifted from his shoulders. Tears of relief threaten to prick his eyes. Sabo's alive. And he's back. And everything is somehow as it should be, for a second.

 _What happened to you?!_ asks Ace, but before his brother can answer he cuts in, _No, fuck that, I don't want to know. What I want you to do is turn around and get away from Marineford._

 _Like hell!_ Sabo's voice softens. _Ace, I'm coming whether you like it or not. You're my brother. And it might be a hard concept to understand, but_ _ **I want you to live**_ _._

Ace clenches his jaw. Around him, the room stays as dark and stale as it always is. He can feel Leo's beads in his pocket, pressed against his leg. _The same applies from me to you, idiot. And you disappeared for months. I can't lose you again._

 _Yeah, well, what if I told you that Luffy's alive?_

Blood freezing in his veins, the revolutionary's mouth falls open.

 _You heard me. He's alive, and strong, and he and a bunch of other misfits are coming to_ _ **your**_ _execution to rescue_ _ **you**_ _. And if I'm not there to protect him, who will?_

Ace can't come up with a good answer. His throat feels tight. The shackles around his hands, feet and neck seem to tighten until he's choking. Luffy's alive. And he's going to risk his life for Ace's sake; and knowing Oyaji, he and the rest of the rebellion probably will too; and now Sabo is too. For _him_.

 _I'm coming, Ace. And then we can finally all be together again, isn't that what you wanted?_

Suddenly, before he can control it, all of Ace's frustration bursts forwards in a rush. He knows that it probably sounds like babble to his brother, most likely isn't even coherent, but he doesn't care. They can't risk their lives to save him – he got himself into this, _he_ was the idiot, _he_ was the one who was captured. And now people might die because of that mistake. Sabo and Luffy might die.

Vaugely, he realises that Sabo has closed off the connection. Ace can feel the tears burning in his eyes; tears of pure frustration, of regret. He must look like a fool to the Foxes guarding the cell as he chokes down his own sobs, shaking and rattling the chains weakly, but right now he doesn't care. The only thing he cares about is that all of this is his own damn fault.

* * *

Even with the bond closed off, Sabo can feel Ace's anguish clearly. It forces its way through them both and steals the blonde's breath. He closes his eyes and tries to ignore it just as one of the lookouts calls, "We've got eyes on Marineford!"

A hand lands on his shoulder and Sabo looks up. Law is standing above him, an eyebrow raised, and says, "Did you hear the lookout, Sabo-ya? We should get ready. It won't be long now."

Sabo nods, trying to shake off the burning of Ace's anger and grief, and allows his friend to pull him to his feet. Both walk towards the bow of the ship and end up leaning against the railing, looking out over a new dawn. Tension is thick in the air, but neither pays it any mind. After a few minutes, they look at each other for a second, and something passes between them.

Law sticks out his hand haltingly. "If one of us is killed, Sabo-ya, it's been good to be allied with you."

Taking the offered hand, Sabo takes the gesture one step forwards; he uses the arm to pull Law into a short hug, slapping him on the back. He can feel the other man tense against him and pulls away after only a few seconds, smiling, taking in the shock on Law's reddening face. "It's been good to be _friends_ with you," he corrects. "And neither of us are going to die, not today."

Still shocked, Law watches as the blonde pulls his hand back and turns towards the ocean. After a second, he follows suit, letting out a long sigh. "Whatever you say, Sabo-san."

"Wait, you just-" Sabo turns, gaping, before a grin stretches across his face. The scars on his face stretch and contort with the motion, and the sun glints in his silver eyes, and Law can do nothing but grin back slightly, mouth twitching upwards at the corner. Turning back towards the ocean, the younger says, "I knew I was growing on you!"

Law snorts. "I don't know what you're talking about, Sabo-san. Does it ever occur to you that we've known each other for less than a week?"

Sabo snickers. "I've always been an 'instant connection' kinda guy, I know," he jokes.

"Observe the common specimen we have here. He thinks he's smooth. A tragic case, truly."

"You know, I wasn't kidding when I called you an ass."

"I'm aware."

Through the banter and the warm feeling in his chest, however, Sabo can't ignore Ace. Not forever. He can feel the throbbing panic through the bond and once the conversation between he and Law tails off, the sensation is more distinct than ever. Ace is panicking, and it's tangible. He's scared. He's grieving.

 _Just a little longer and all this will be over, Ace. I promise._

* * *

 _"I love you both, Luffy… And just think…_ "

"-ffy! Luffy, wake up!"

Luffy jolts upwards, forehead nearly colliding with Zoro's, close to hyperventilating. He looks down at his hands desperately, half expecting to see them covered in blood. In _Ace's_ blood.

"Are you okay?" asks Zoro's voice, and he finally manages to look up. The desk is crowded with revs, clutching weapons with fire in their eyes. A few feet away, Nami and the others look ready to fight. Even Usopp, though he's shaking, clutches his slingshot in position.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay." Luffy pushes himself to his feet, trying to shove all thoughts of Ace from his head. The dreams don't mean anything. They don't mean anything. They don't mean anything. He ignores the fact that that one felt more real than all the others combined. "Just a bad dream. I'm okay."

Zoro doesn't look like he believes him, but says nothing. "We're ready to move, captain," he says. "A ton of ships have arrived. And as far as we can tell, they're bringing Ace out onto the execution platform soon."

Luffy looks out over the ocean and feels his jaw drop. There are hundreds of ships, all in an arc surrounding the island, all of different sizes, shapes and colours. A section of them are black, clustered around that big old pirate ship, but more still have the revolutionary insignia painted on their sails. There are barges and caravels, huge ships like the one that says 'BARATIE' on the side and tiny ships like the small caravels that line the harbour – it feels like the entire ocean has turned up to participate in this fight. And the Moby Dick is right at the head of them.

"Holy shit…"

"That's what we thought, too." Nami walks over. Her eyes are dark, burning with something Luffy can't describe, but at least her voice doesn't sound as broken as before. "You see that big, black ship? Apparently that's AANGEL's ship. Where Robin should be."

"Cool, so I can grab her along the way, too!" Luffy forces a grin across his face even though it hurts his cheeks. "And if Sanji and Traf are here too, I'll grab them as well."

Zoro snorts. "You talk about traitors like they're a pick-and-mix." Luffy shoots him a grin for that one but then turns, shoving his way through the crowd of angry revolutionaries, leaving his crew to trail behind as he makes his way to the head of the ship."

And there stands Whitebeard… though he doesn't look the same as before. He's standing, weapon in hand, an intimating figure that seems so monstrously large that he could block out the sun.

Silence hangs, unbroken, for a split second. Then, it breaks as Whitebeard takes a step forwards. Every eye is rooted on the strongest man in the world. He stands silhouetted in the sunlight, and Luffy has to crane his neck just to see his head high above.

"My beloved son had better be alright, Sengoku." As he speaks, the world seems to shake from its very foundations.

The final fight, the summit war, has started.

* * *

 **WHOOP ITS ON NOW**

 **i hope you liked this chapter! the highlights for me were def luff being tired and adorable, law and sabo *cough*flirting*cough* and haley being a strangely resourceful lil kid**

 **REVIEW REPLIES IM SO HYPED WTF**

 **AsunaLucy, Chapter 37, 19h ago:**

 ** _thank you for that, it is a nice bit of almost calm before the huge angst storm rolls in im guessing._**

 **Precisely :) :) :)**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 37, 18h ago:**

 ** _oH MY GOD?_**

?

 **ari your reviews are LITERALLY the best thing in the world**

 **ScandinavianTrash chapter 37 . 17h ago**

 ** _Sabo was rambling about Luffy as much as me with my smol fren  
Casually missing skin in shape of dove may leave a nice dove scar to remember this XD  
What do you mEAN MORE THAN JUST NIGHTMARES?!  
Okay, son, you can keep saying that. Even tho, in the end, you f*cked up your body's schedules ._.  
Update~_**

 **Heyo!  
yeah, he's such a dork and I love him  
who says law's gonna be around to remember anything?  
AHAHAHAHA  
I've never had anybody call me son before….hm….but okay I promise I genuinely will take care of myself! I promise!  
talk soon, ily!**

 **YJV, Chapter 37, 10h ago:**

 ** _Holy shit, they are alive! And escaped~~ that's great! Does the group who are going to the war know about the prophecy? Also, so like, Luffy has the ability to command like a king? Man, this is confusing. Anyway, ganbatte, ily, and talk soon! Cant eait for ASL to be all together again. The prophecy though... Prophecies usually have hidden and double meanings, I wonder what their prophecy really means..._**

 **Hey!  
some people going into the war know, others don't. most of the leaders have some idea, though. And… that's a cool idea abt luffy, but I don't think that's quite it. don't worry, it'll all be revealed soon!  
ily, talk soon, and let's hope they end up meeting at all! With how this fic is going I wouldn't be so sure…  
and yeah… take a good hard look at that prophecy. Yeah. **

**zoewinter1, Chapter 37, 4h ago:**

 ** _you are going to get the weirdest fucking review but I'm about 3 seconds from passing out cuz it's 230am but I am getting this review posted before the new chapter or so help me god. I am LOVING all the new (and returning) characters, Sanji and Sabo's reunion was everything I ever hoped for and more (as was Sanji and Law's reunion LOL) RAYLEIGH IS FREE AND HERE TO KICK ASS EVERYBODY IS HERE TO KISS ASS WATCH OUT MARINES CUZ HERE WE FUCKING COME_**

 **HEY  
awww, I hope you got a good sleep in the end! I'm glad you're liking it (and thank you so much, I loved writing that bit lmao). And YEAH, RAYLEIGHS GONNA FUCKIN WRECK IT ALL AND I AM LOVING IT. WHOOP. LET'S GO.**


	39. 3-8 - The War of the Best

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **happy one piece day, if you didn't know about it! this is a very special day for me and a lot of other one piece fans, and i hope you enjoy it! one piece has been around for 20 years now and honestly im just so glad that i found it. i've made so many good friends (and surrogate siblings) through it, and i'll be forever greatful for that. in oda's words, i've gotten to know the characters and formed a connection with them, just like many other fans have.**

 **anyway, enough babbling! enjoy the surprisingly-not-sad chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 39 – The War of the Best**

* * *

The whole world draws its breath, Sabo included, as Whitebeard takes a step forwards. His words ring through the bay, crashing on the eardrums of thousands- and at that very second, as if on cue, a figure reaches the top of the stairs to the execution platform, being led by two others, hit by the sunlight so everybody can see him. In sharp relief, chained so tightly that all he can do is walk forwards, is Portgas D. Ace. Sabo's blood begins to boil as he sees the state he's in; beat up, emaciated and hopeless, he's being pulled along by a chain around his neck like some kind of slave. He looks a second from falling to his knees.

Suddenly, Sabo feels a sharp sting of shock as Ace looks up, taking in the incredible amount of ships lined up in the waters surrounding Marineford. He can see his eyes searching through the crowded line of boats, scanning frantically to see just who's turned up to risk their life for him. Then, his head ducks down as he's pushed to his knees at Sengoku's side, back bare to the sun above, eyes downcast. The two guards who escorted him attach the chains to the platform, the one wrapped around his neck pulled down so far that he's hunched over uncomfortably, and Sabo feels a growl rise in his throat against his will. The second they get Ace out of here, he's going to burn this island to the ground.

 _Can't… Use my fire_.

Ace is so exhausted, so drained, that it's physically painful. And Sabo knows immediately that it isn't natural. Something artificial is affecting his body. _What do you mean? Why can't you?_

 _They injected something into my neck… Can't really remember… Sabo…_

His thoughts themselves are sluggish, ravaged by exhaustion. Sabo tightens his grip on the railing and clenches his jaw. _We'll be there soon. I promise. Stay alive_.

Whitebeard's voice rings out once again, and his crew echo his call. "You just hang in there a little longer, Ace!"

The air crackles with electricity, alive and choking. Suddenly, Ace's voice rings out. He's shouting so loudly that his voice sounds hoarse, but at least he's audible. "Pops, Everybody… I set out without your permission, I went against your orders… _Why didn't you just leave me behind?!_ My own stupidity got me into this in the first place!"

Sabo's heart sinks – but then it lifts again, expanding with warmth in his chest as the Revolutionary Army take up the call, screaming and yelling across the water.

"Just wait! We're going to save you!"

"We won't let anyone who hurt you get away alive, Ace!"

"Just wait a little longer!"

Whitebeard slams his bisento into the ground, grinning under his moustache, and says, "We're sailing back to the north with you, or not at all!"

The roar from the hoard of angry rebels grows louder and louder, crashing through the plaza, clear in every ear. Sabo takes a minute to gaze at them all. Marco, Whitebeard's right-hand, is visible standing beside his father. Even though he looks haggard and grim, he's smirking slightly, eyes locked on Ace. The other main contenders – Jozu, Vista, Izo – are clustered around him too. Behind them, a fraction of the army take up the entire deck, shoved together like sardines in a tin, brandishing every type of weapon Sabo has ever heard of.

"Sabo-san, look." Beside him, Law lowers his voice, pointing to a spot on the deck of the Moby Dick. "The Strawhats."

Sabo's heart stops for a millisecond. It takes a second to pick them out in the crowd but there they are – a small cluster of mismatched people matching Law's description of them. A head of green hair, a tall, thin figure with a black afro, a bulkier, more abnormally-shaped figure with blue hair and broad forearms, a normal-sized boy with curly hair, dark skin and a slingshot, a teenager with a staff and flaming red hair, a small reindeer, and…

He's not visible in detail, but Sabo can make out Luffy's black hair, sticking up in all directions just like it used to. His arms are crossed, skinny frame tense, shadowed by Whitebeard's huge form but standing strong. With a jolt, the blonde realises that his little brother looks truly formidable; but somehow, he seems just like he used to be. And as he watches, Luffy takes a step forwards, then jumps up onto the figurehead, stamping both feet onto it hard. The yells die down. Now, the world has its eyes on somebody new.

Luffy stands with his hands on his knees, legs bent, as if he's about to spring into the air. When he speaks, Sabo can hear the growl in his voice – and it's deeper than before, even though it still sounds a little like that of a child. The kid draws a deep breath and yells, " _AAAACE!_ "

Up on the execution platform, Ace freezes, eyes wide, barely able to comprehend what he's seeing.

"WE'RE HERE TO SAVE YOU!" Luffy continues, as though it isn't obvious. His voice rings as loudly and fiercely as even Whitebeard's, and his crew come to stand behind him, hand on their weapons, all fearless. Pride crests like a wave inside Sabo. He really grew up.

Sabo decides that it's his time to shine now. It's now or never. Soon, the war will start – and before it does, Ace needs to know something. Pushing through the crowd of mixed chefs and downers, shoving past Sanji (who's staring at the Strawhats open-mouthed) and passing Zeff, he runs up the figurehead until he's standing firmly on the lip of the fish figurehead. His old marine uniform is so soiled that it's barely recognisable. Sabo holds no weapon for now, but he's sure that he'll be able to steal one soon.

"Don't even think about trying to get us to turn back! We're your brothers, Ace!"

Luffy turns almost in slow motion, mouth falling open. He and Sabo make eye contact across the ocean, neither moving for a second, and Sabo quirks a small smile as he backs down onto the deck again. Then, Whitebeard apparently decides that they've been standing around for too long. The gargantuan mountain of a man spins his bisento in his hand before lancing it into the wood beneath his feet, raising a fist and _stabbing it into the air itself_.

The air fractures.

The war churns into action as the world itself tilts. Sabo, Law and Sanji (who just joined them) have to cling onto the railing as the sea rolls and crashes beneath them, and even the sturdy Baratie can't stay level as the waves crest higher and higher, raging around them as if the seas themselves are coming to life in horrific clarity. The pure power of the strongest man in the world shoots through the air like a bullet as the ocean rumbles, rising and rising until all present can see, with dawning horror, that two identical tsunamis are rising up at each side of the bay. The waves soar into the sky, getting closer and closer, larger and larger, and soon they block out the sun itself.

Sabo barely holds his nerve, and feels Law tense sharply at his side. Any second now, they'll crest and bury them all in seawater. Shouts of alarm and panic break out both on the side of the marines and on the side of the rescuers as the waves curve, rising and rising more with every second, an inch from crushing them all until-

Movement breaks out on the Marines' side, and somebody darts from a stand near the execution platform so quickly that Sabo's eyes can't keep track of them. A split second later, they've used a burst of pure ice to dart into the air between both waves. Silently, almost eerily so, they shoot a beam of jagged ice out from each arm, hitting both waves and freezing them from top to bottom in a heartbeat. Ice licks down both waves and to the ocean floor, shooting through the bay like a viral infection, only leaving the water beyond the ships untouched as it freezes each in place.

"One of the three admirals - Aokiji," Sanji says in a low voice, staring upwards with something between awe and horror. "Aside from divisions like the Foxes and CP9, they're some of the only people in the world who are allowed to have and manifest Gifts."

"Just more people between me and my brother," replies Sabo in an instant. "And the ice should prove useful in getting to the plaza, anyway."

Sengoku stands beside Ace with a grim frown that's visible from even here. He looks so large, towering over the hunched prisoner, glasses reflecting the sunlight. He dwarfs the fire-user beside him. "Hold your nerve, men! One way or another, this will be over in three hours!"

Whitebeard doesn't have to use a microphone or movement to get the attention of every last one of his fighters. "Revolutionary Army - this war starts here!" he roars, with a voice so loud and raw that it seems to shake every ship in the bay. And his army flare up at the calling, waving weapons, the sound of their shouts so loud that it seems to reach the heavens above. Marco shouts an order that Sabo can't make out and they begin to jump from the whale figurehead, crashing down to the ice, hundreds upon hundreds of fighters armed to the teeth. Feeling a grin stretch across his face, Sabo exchanges a glance with Law; at once, both turn towards the head of the ship and take running leaps, the air tugging at their clothes and hair, rushing past them harshly as they fall. Both residents of Stormy Down hit the ground hard, Sabo rolling to absorb the impact, and enter the war running.

The ice beneath them is cold as the pair begin to run, feet slapping on the uneven ground, the revs racing along at their side. The force with black ships - AANGEL - has yet to send out its fighters. Sabo doesn't doubt that it won't be long. Sanji slips alongside Sabo, legs and arm pumping, detirmination clear on his face. Ahead, Marines flood from the plaza and into the frozen bay like a stream of ants from an anthill. The trio don't look back, and it only now registers to Sabo that _he's entering the biggest war in modern history_.

And that sets his blood on fire.

The marines draw closer and closer and Sabo feels heat rise below his skin, making the ice beneath his skin slippery as it begins to melt. He ignores it - that is, until his legs are spun from underneath him and the blonde skids a few feet before coming to a stop, face-down on the floor, dazed. Sanji carries on running, obviously preoccupied. Sabo might be his adoptive brother, but the Strawhats are his family. Law stops for a second to heave Sabo from the floor and smack him before both begin running again, this time ready to catch themselves should they fall. Whitebeard's long, rumbling laugh echoes from far behind as he yells a threat to somebody or other - maybe one of the admirals tried to attack him, if they're all as monstrously agile as Aokiji. The ex-soldier tunes it out, reaching the mouth of the bay now, the Marines a wall of blue and white just up ahead. Some of the revs have already clashed with them.

Luffy's voice suddenly rings out, catching Sabo off guard, and he watches with horror as his little brother launches himself straight into the hoard. The blonde runs faster, heart pounding with adrenaline and panic as he prays for the young captain to be alright. Law, however, only laughs.

"What's there to laugh about, you-"

"Calm down," Law smirks, "Just watch."

Sabo carries on running (obviously he does!) but tries to calm himself down enough to be able to watch Luffy without having a hernia. And he feels his eyes widen, mouth falling open.

Because the Strawhats work like a finely tuned machine, quicker than the eye can see, all of them crashing through the marines like a hurricane. Sabo blinks and three men have fallen to the swordsman's blade; the girl with the bo staff is taking down marines so fast and with such force that the ground beneath her is cracking; the sniper moves like lightening; the cyborg lets of bursts of light that illuminate the whole battlefield as he takes down enemies; and the skeleton and the reindeer are blurs of motion, leaving bodies in their wake, more with each passing second. When one member is preoccupied with one fight, another will cover their back just in time to save them from certain death by bayonet. They work in perfect synchronisation, as one unit, moving in tandem.

And Luffy is stuck in the middle of it all, fighting so hard that his limbs are barely more than blurs, twisting, ducking and flipping around blades and guns as he throws himself at every nearby soldier he can reach. He's the smallest one in the group aside from the reindeer, a jumble of skinny limbs but as strong as a horse, growling fiercely as he fights to get to his older brother. And as he turns, sweeping five enemies out of the way as if they're little more than dominoes, he and Sabo meet eyes across the battlefield, barely twenty yards of ice separating them after four long years. The younger of the pair stops for a second, mouth falling open, and Sabo's heart skips a beat as a marine lunges for his exposed back-

Sanji jumps in between them, kicking the marine away so hard that he flies back ten feet and crashes into the ice. That seems to be the one thing that can distract the Strawhats. All of them stop in their tracks for a second, shock flitting across their faces in unison, before the marines swarm forwards and they're back to fighting once more. The chef fits seamlessly into their ranks, joining the strange, violent dance they perform on the ice, fighting with as much passion as any of them. Sabo actually laughs when the redhead swings her staff into the head of a marine, downing him and letting the sweeping hit continue until the staff makes contact with the back of Sanji's head with a _whap_. It was probably intended to hurt, but Sabo notes that it could have been a lot harsher with the girl's strength.

Luffy, however, has eyes for nobody but his brother. His crew cover him as he stares, eyes wide but slowly filling with joy (and, indeed, a few tears). It only takes a few seconds for the kid to come to his senses and lunge across the ice with a yell, colliding with Sabo so hard that he goes barrelling back into Law and all three fall into a heap on the rough ground, the doctor groaning in pain as he's crushed beneath the two brothers. The blonde honestly couldn't care less. All he cares about right now is that Luffy is right here, pressed against him and sniffling like the crybaby he always has been, arms wrapped around him a dozen times just as Law had described.

"It's be- _Luffy-! I can't-! breathe-!_ \- been a while," Sabo manages to choke out. He's only clung to tighter.

Luckily, the pirate seems to come to his senses after a few seconds and pulls back, wiping his eyes on Sabo's shirt before setting his jaw and looking up at his brother with fire in his eyes. "Once this is over, I'm not leaving again," he says. Sabo catches on - it means more than that. It means that they'll stick together or die trying. ( **1** )

"Got it. Me neither." Resolutely, Sabo stands, offering a hand to pull Luffy up with him and holding back a laugh at Law's harsh glare. "Now come on - we've got an idiot to save."

* * *

Marco stands strong beside his father even as the Revolutionary Army surge forwards, screaming and hurling war cries at the sky, meeting the Marines in an explosion of sound and motion in the frozen bay. He keeps his back straight, eyes narrowed, face a mask of determination. And he tries desperately not to let his unease bubble to the surface. Because something about this battle isn't adding up. The marines have lined up all of their forces like toy soldiers, sure, and it looks intimidating. But the rescuers are far, far stronger, both in manpower and in tactical skill. Sengoku isn't senile – he knows that. So what could the Marines be hiding? What's their trump card?

Whitebeard's right-hand man scans his brain for anything they could be hiding, any hidden weapon they could whip out once rescuers begin to reach the plaza. There's the Foxes, of course. There's no doubt that they'll turn up. But what else? Could they have an ally hidden within the forces of the rescuers? Marco shoots a harsh look down at the small, red-brown caravel but knows instinctively that he's too late. Its occupants have already no-doubt disappeared into the fray. Could they be some kind of Navy ploy? If betrayal is the game that the marines are playing, then the Rebellion is out of the question. If Whitebeard's forces held any traitors, they would know about it. AANGEL are most likely out of it too, seeing as their morals in this particular situation don't bode well with any type of aid to the navy. After all, it's in their name that they should oppose something like this. The chefs of the Baratie aren't even worth questioning, and neither are Shanks and his forces. The idea of the Strawhat Pirates betraying Ace is laughable.

Apparently, Marco's father has the same ominous feeling as he does. They make eye contact for a second, before the elder murmurs, "Call the base. Tell them to fly over _our_ trump card, son."

"Aye, aye," answers Marco, a small smirk spreading across his lips. AANGEL won't like it, not one bit. And it won't be pretty. But if there's going to be any time to use it, it's now.

Before Marco can turn away, Whitebeard lays a hand on his shoulder. "After you've done that, you might want to say hello to your brother. It's been a while since you two fought together." Marco's face twists into a grimace at this but eventually he nods, turning away. It's not the most favourable option, but if Oyaji wants it, then Marco'll get it done.

He makes the call, stomach churning, with the strange sensation of standing an inch from a hurricane of change.

* * *

Robin does everything she can to keep her eyes away from the Strawhats. She looks at the marines. She looks at the Revolutionary Army as it carves a path through said forces. She looks at AANGEL as slowly but surely, they send out small groups of troops to infiltrate the fight, being cautious. Eventually, she can look nowhere but into the face of her leader. Dragon's eyes are narrowed but aside from that, nothing about his expression gives away what he's thinking. At his side, Koala shoots Robin a harried smile, shouting orders. The leader himself remains silent, and soon Koala rushes off, leaving boss and second-in-command alone at the head of the ship.

After a second, Robin clears her throat. "I would not assume a role of insubordination, Dragon-san… But are you sure that these tactics are advisable?"

The man snorts slightly, but doesn't look at her. "We're barely twenty minutes into the battle, Robin. Surely my tactics haven't disgusted you so much?" There's a dangerous _something_ in his tone.

"Once again, I wish not to show disrespect," Robin replies coolly. "But sending all of our troops to the east of the platform leads them directly towards the place where we have predicted the Foxes will surface. As well as this, it puts them against the wind and gives them no particular advantage comparative to sending them north-west, or directly north towards Portgas. Is there any particular reason for this fluctuation in judgement?"

"Maybe you should get back to your post, Ms Nico."

Robin holds her ground. "Or perhaps I should ask again, Dragon-san – why do you choose to send our fighters to their deaths?" Her voice hardens.

"Perhaps the paranoia of working undercover has infected our work relationship," Dragon says, cold. "Or maybe you feel that the Strawhat Pirates are a more trustworthy ally than us?"

It's a dirty card to pull, but Robin doesn't falter. "Are you sure _I'm_ the one with paranoia?"

A beat of silence passes. When Dragon speaks again, his voice is low and holds a sharp warning, masked behind cold calmness. "You are going to turn around and join the preparations. You are going to trust that I can run my own organisation without aid. And you are not going to interfere with what's to come. Do you understand?"

Robin waits a heartbeat before nodding, slipping backwards. "Understood, Dragon-san."

* * *

Up on the execution platform, Ace watches the battle with bated breath, a harsh lump in his throat that he can't seem to swallow around. He can feel a lurch of adrenaline every time Sabo lunges or ducks, can sense his mixed anticipation, anxiety and excitement as he and Luffy reunite in the middle of the battlefield. Every enemy the cluster of mismatched fighters take down sends a thrill of relief through Ace – but at the same time, his panic grows as they draw closer and closer. Worse enemies lie ahead of them, and they're running right into their grasp.

Garp sits down beside Ace heavily, a sigh escaping from the old man, and the teen doesn't look at him. He has nothing to say to him. The vice-admiral doesn't try to initiate a conversation and Ace is content with that. His whole body _aches_ with something more intense than mere pain, head pulled downwards and sending stabs of pain down his bruised spine, blood boiling with tension. And, strangely, fear. Because Ace is undoubtedly terrified right now; even he's not stubborn enough to deny it. He's utterly terrified of watching his brothers and his family die to save him. They can't die because of some _godforsaken prophecy_. Sabo and Luffy, finally back within reach, can't die because of something like that.

Sengoku is conversing with Garp, leaving Ace to his own thoughts, and he doesn't listen to the pair. Instead, his eyes are riveted on the battle far below. The group Luffy came with fight as fiercely as wolves, and even as Ace watches, his heart leaps into his throat as a Marine aims a sword slash at Luffy. The green-haired swordsman darts in at the very last second, deflecting the hit easily with a dark grin on his face. Luffy turns with a grin, back facing Ace, using the swordsman's back as a springboard to leap at a nearby soldier. The navyman doesn't stand a chance.

A shot rings out and Ace winces as a bullet pierces the redhead's shoulder and she screams, falling to one knee. Quicker than his eyes can comprehend from this distance, the group surround her in a protective circle, fighting hard to hold back the marines as the tiny, furry creature sinks even more, whipping out a first-aid kid seemingly out of nowhere and tying a hurried tourniquet around her shoulder. It looks painful, held in place by a small wooden rod, but no blood sinks through. Ace reckons that it should stay in place. Shakily, the girl stands, leaning heavily on her left side as if trying to protect her injured shoulder. She picks up something small and dark off the floor – possibly the bullet, if it went in one side and out of the other – and slips it into the pocket of her cut-offs before straightening, spinning her staff in her hand and hurling herself back into the battle. As if nothing happened, the group begin to progress again. Sabo and a vaguely familiar teen with dark hair fight hard beside them.

Suddenly, a huge ' _crack'_ rings through the air and Ace looks up, heart pounding. His eyes widen at the one thing he had most definitely never wanted to see, especially at the cost of rescuing _him_. Whitebeard has entered the battle. And he's squaring off against Admiral Sakazuki, barely ten feet from his ship, stopped before he can even reach the fight.

The old man grins and raises his bisento.

* * *

 **(1) *hums 'the boys are back in town'***

 **Tetsik, Chapter 38, Jul 18:**

 ** _you-  
_** _ **atleast he isnt dead**_

 **yet.  
thanks for the review ty! Ily!**

 **3D.2why, Chapter 37, Jul 18:**

 ** _I've been reading but haven't updated yet and Lord I think everything is about to come to close and everything is revealing itself. I must say this was fun and SABO AND SANJI ARE SO CUTE~_**

 **Hey!  
yeah, everything's getting pulled together! Just remember – when you see the chapter called 'path to the sun', that's when all is revealed. A very important chapter!  
YEAH I KNOW I LOVE THEM. THE DORKS.  
thanks for the review!**

 **YJV, Chapter 38, Jul 19:**

 ** _Great chapter! And what? No no no, they can't NOT meet, they have to! I will cry if they don't! T.T OMG, this cannot possibly be a heartbreaking repeat of Marineford in OP. PLEAASSEE. Anyway, poor Acey! Would something epic happen? Like, maybe, their fires merging and becoming one entity or empowering each other to BUST their way outta there?_**

 **Heyo!  
I'm glad you liked the chapter! Hmm, maybe they will maybe they won't ;) for now, keep the tears until chapter 41.  
IT MIGHT BE A REPEAT OF MARINEFORD. IDK. Ittotallyisimsosorry  
yeah, poor ace! And that sounds cool… maybe, maybe!  
thanks for reviewing, ily!**

 **3D.2why, Chapter 38, Jul 19:**

 ** _oh my Lord. I have no words for this chapter except for tears and my username might even be used goddamn I hope not._**

 **Im crying this is the best review I've gotten in ages  
IF YOU CRY, DON'T WORRY, ILL BE CRYING TOO. IM A BABY EVEN WITH MY OWN STORIES. **

**Guest, Chapter 38, Jul 19:**

 ** _I'm so sorry I didn't review last chapter and I won't be able to finish this one and review for a while since I'm on vacation. From what I've read so far things are getting heavy and I'm looking foward to having a moment to read, thanks so much for the updates, I'll be back *hugs*_**

 **Hey!  
it's okay, I get that things are busy and I hope you have an amazing vacation! Im sure it'll be awesome.  
yeah, things are heating up and I love it! don't pressure yourself into reviewing/reading until you have the time/energy, this story isn't going anywhere! I'll be around when you do have time, promise!  
*big hugs* thank you for the review!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 38, Jul 21:**

 ** _I KNEW SABO WOULD WARM UP TO HIM  
MY BBY LUFFY IS SO ADORABLE WHEN HE SLEEPY HELP ME ;u;  
Aaaaaand the war started ._. ono  
Yes, u is son now :D  
Update~_**

 **YEAAAH I LOVE THEM. OF COURSE SABO WOULD WARM HIM UP. I MEAN. FIRE.  
I know, sleepy!luffy is literally the best thing in this life  
yeaaaah it's on! whOOp! CLIMAX  
okie dok I guess im son now! Well if you wanted anything else weird to call me, a few of my friends (and my bro ty) call me a lil gay bean so that's cool too. I like son tho!  
talk soon! Ily!**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 38, 12h ago:**

 ** _I'M FUCKING CRYING! LIKE LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK THAT WAS SO NICE! also apologies for the Hella late review I'm Been... so tired (which is why control is Hella late to getting updated) BUT I'M SO GLAD EVERYONE IS FIGHTING TOGETHER AND FIGHTING TO SAVE ACE AAAAAAAAAA (even if you spoiled me for that so many characters are going to die) thank you for letting me know you were about to update! looking forward to the new chapter_**

 **YOU DESERVED IT. CONTROL SAVES MY LIFE  
*cuddles* sleep if you need it, okay? And yeah, the climax of the fic is here! All the characters thrown together like asdfghtrdfnbdfj im dead okay  
yeah…..theyre all dead lmao  
talk soon! Thank you for the review, ilysm**


	40. 3-9 - Crumbling

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **I hope you like the chapter! Warning, this is a sad one. Also: ari, you might want to skim over the scene at the end, if you want to.**

* * *

 **Chapter 40 – Crumbling**

* * *

Whitebeard and Akainu clash in a supernova of noise and force, pure energy thrown in every direction, chaotic and with a sound like a harsh scream as bisento meets magma-covered fist. Luffy is distracted for a split second before he senses a sword rushing towards his head and ducks, rolling forwards and into the legs of the offender like a forceful rubber bowling ball. The marine falls, screaming as her sword is shot from her hand by Usopp, and doesn't get back up as her head cracks onto the ice. Luffy tries not to look at the blood covering the ground from a deep wound at the back of her skull.

The third big marine guy – Nami called them 'admirals' earlier – shoots over their heads so quickly that Luffy's eyes can't follow him. He's met with a burst of blue flame that erupts in the sky above, so bright that it comes close to blotting out the sun; after a second, Luffy forces his eyes away from the sight even though curiosity and awe alike tug at him. He has a job to do. He can't keep getting distracted if he wants the crew and his brothers to live.

Beside the teen, Sabo is throwing himself into the heat of battle with such vigour that the movements of his pipe are a metallic blur. He barely seems winded, concentration on his face, and Luffy is met with the strange realisation that he's actually having to scramble to keep up. Even after all of these years, apparently he still has to get a little stronger before he beats his big brothers. Still, Luffy reassures himself as he swats away a marine aiming for Sabo's back, he's not far behind. Once they get Ace out, he'll beat them both for sure! For now, however, they have to focus on getting through this one battle.

Suddenly, a chill runs through the battlefield with such intensity that Sabo almost drops his pipe. Both brothers' heads shoot up, the pair turning in the same direction, distracted for a split second. Because there, on an wooden structure to the right of the execution platform, stand suddenly around fifty figures, looking down on the battle like ancient gods, identical in all but body shape and height. A split second ago, there was no trace of them to be seen. Luffy's heart clenches when he sees that they're all wearing the same fox masks as Usopp used to have, and the sniper himself lets out a yell of surprise. Their clothes are dark against the periwinkle-blue sky above. Only one stands out among the rest, and the mere sight of him is enough to make a growl rise in Luffy's throat.

The blonde man is monstrously tall, with a thick neck, short hair and tanned skin. His bare chest is muscled and looks almost plastic in the sunlight, and a pair of oddly-shaped sunglasses hide his eyes from view. His pink, feathery coat should look ridiculous, but somehow it seems to make him look larger and more domineering. And the grin on his face, so wide and distorted that it looks close to breaking skin, makes Luffy fall back a few steps for a second. There's something alien in that grin. Something that isn't human.

"The Foxes," Law growls from Sabo's side, voice grim. And suddenly the battle swings back to life, bodies thronging and heaving past each other, weapons glinting in the light. Luffy's brief moment of distraction costs him; a yelp of pain rips from him as a sword cleaves into his elbow, gouging away a hunk of skin. Sabo covers him, still manifesting all of the protectiveness of an older brother, while Chopper bandages the wound. Up on the execution platform, Luffy can vaguely hear Ace yelling, but he can't make out his words. The clashing, explosive music of battle is too thick in his ears for that.

"Shit," Sabo summarizes as a bullet whizzes past him and misses his skull by an inch, just barely dodged. "That's not good."

"My thoughts exactly," replies Law with a grimace, "Duck!"

The doctor swings his dagger over Sabo's head in a movement quicker than the naked eye can comprehend, the blade slicing through a Marine's shoulder like it's butter. In exchange, Sabo darts around Law and slams his metal pipe into another soldier's balls - and still, the enemies keep coming. Luffy is panting hard, exerting himself with constant movement and adrenaline, and he and Sanji move around each other in a deadly blur of punches and kicks. The rest of the Strawhats are pushing themselves just as hard, most already injured, and Sabo takes a moment to admire just how loyal they must be to Luffy to be here today.

"Let's get closer! C'mon!" Luffy calls, punching a marine's lights out as casually as picking his nose. An intense wave of heat explodes from behind them with such force that most of the Strawhats go flying, skidding across the ice, the fighters in the bay falling like dominoes as Akainu and Whitebeard's powers collide behind them. A split second later, blue flames explode through the air as Marco kicks Kizaru into a wall, sending him shooting through hundreds of metres of open space in a split second.

Sabo rolls smoothly to his feet from the fall, stamping down hard on a fallen marine's skull and grabbing Luffy to help the boy to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Luffy coughs, throat rough, but nods. "Yeah, let's go!"

Sabo intends to wait for the Strawhats to rise, sure that Luffy will want to stay with his crew. He's shocked, however, when his little brother grabs his arm and starts running, teeth gritted, eyes filled with raw determination. By the time the Strawhats and the marines have pulled themselves up, many cursing as they nurse cuts and grazes, Luffy and Sabo are ten feet away and sprinting hard.

Law and the Strawhat Pirates let out cries of surprise but the marines converge on them and their shouts are drowned out. Before, in a cluster, Sabo and Luffy could barely move for the enemies around them. However, now a new urgency has entered the situation. The sky is alight with blue flames, the world lit up by flashes of magma from behind them, ice cracking beneath their feet. Now, instead of fighting, Sabo and Luffy just run as hard as they can.

A bullet grazes Sabo's arm, leaving a shallow cut that stings like fire, but he barely flinches. Beside him, a sword nicks Luffy's cheek, spraying blood across his face - and he barely reacts either, so focused on their destination. Ahead, the plaza grows and grows. More and more cracks lace the ice beneath the pair as they run, shoving marines out of the way like they're little more than cardboard cut-outs in their way. Up ahead of them, Ace is little more than a blur on the execution platform, but Sabo can feel his fear like a knife through the heart. He speeds up and beside him, Luffy does too.

The brothers are about to enter the plaza when it happens. Sabo senses the approaching enemy from behind them and throws his body across Luffy's smaller one to shield him. The new enemy misses them by an inch, skidding to a stop in front of the pair, feet scuffing up ice. Sabo unwraps himself from around Luffy with a deep breath, steeling himself and raising his pipe. He looks up, preparing to fight what must be a very fast, very gutsy marine, and-

Luffy lets out a yell of shock and freezes. Sabo feels his mouth fall open. And for a moment, nothing seems to move.

 _Zoro_ stands in front of them, panting hard, all three of his swords drawn. His frame is taut and tense, and he faces Sabo and Luffy as if they're some heinous enemy. The hands holding his blades are shaking – whether with tension or something else, Sabo doesn't know.

He's wearing a _fox mask_.

Sabo internally curses every god he knows. Law told him what that means – Doflamingo is in control of the swordsman now. The blonde takes a halting step back, eyes narrowing, ready to flee. Zoro, especially under the influence of the leader of the Foxes, isn't an enemy he has time to face right now. The sun moves higher and higher with every passing second, like a ticking clock counting down to the time of Ace's death.

Luffy, however, doesn't move back. In fact, he takes a hesitant step _forwards_ , reaching a hand out to his friend as if he can pry the mask off with his bare hands. "…Zoro? What…? Why are you wearing one of those masks?!"

Sabo grabs the younger's arm. "Doflamingo must have put it on him somehow – look, Luffy, if we can avoid fighting him then we don't have to hurt him. So let's _move_!"

Once again, Luffy doesn't listen. His head is tilted to the side but instead of curiosity, his face is a mask of horrified comprehension. Hand still reached out towards Zoro, he takes another small step forwards.

No emotion shows through the fox mask, but Sabo catches the tensing of the swordsman's muscles and pulls the frozen Luffy back at the last second, just in time for a katana to slash through the air right where his head was a millisecond earlier.

* * *

Experimentation base two, strategically placed near Marine HQ for easy access, is never quiet. In all the days she's been here - and that's a very, very long time - she's never seen a calm day here. There are constantly doctors and scientists in and out, guards rolling through a familiar, infallible schedule and new muts being towed in every day. Base two is a hub of activity, the home of scientific advancement - and she has seen the very worst of it, viewing it from inside the cages instead of from the outside.

It's true that base two is never quiet. However, today it's about as close to quiet as it gets.

Machines still fill the halls with a low hum, and flies buzz through the casing over the fluorescent lights throughout the camp, vibrating against the Plexiglas and creating a dull, muted sound that is all-too-familiar to her ears. Today, however, a mere two guards patrol the corridors instead of the usual eight, and no scientists or researchers have been permitted entry. Today, the whole base is holding its breath. She's heard the rumours, of course. People are saying that the marines are going to war with the Revolutionary Army, and that they're using every last scrap of their manpower to take them on. It's not too hard to believe, considering the fact that she's done three things against the rules in the last five minutes and nobody has noticed yet.

Every mut in this place knows what this war means. If the marines fall, they're free. That's _it_. The rebellion has always been against experimentation, and there's no doubt in anybody's mind that they wouldn't want to keep them here if they did win. However... Then comes the real problem. The matter of _winning_. If the revs lose, then hope truly is gone; they're all stuck here for the rest of their miserable lives if this war goes south. She in particular, curled up on the floor of her glass cell, feels helpless. Frustrated. The war that will inevitably change her life - for better or worse - is waging a mere ten miles away, and she can do nothing.

The two guards pass again, boots clicking on the ground in perfect unison, and her eyes follow them across the floor and out of sight. She has ten minutes now, roughly, until they return. Usually, with more guards the intervals would be much shorter. Today, however, she has more time to do as she likes.

And suddenly, an idea bursts to life in her mind.

* * *

Luffy lets out a yell and dodges another sword slash, yelling at his best friend at the top of his voice to stop. It does nothing. Zoro is relentless and incredibly fast, and the other strawhats are being held back by dozens of marines, unable to step in as Sabo and Luffy fight for their very lives. So far, they've managed to keep from hurting the mind-controlled swordsman too much. While Sabo at least tries to parry his blows, Luffy does nothing but dodge, yelling at Zoro all the while to come back to himself – to stop attacking them and fight the mask. It's no good. They aren't getting past him anytime soon.

Sabo knows who's causing this and, in a brief second of respite, glares fiercely at the Foxes high above. The grin on Doflamingo's face is twisted and insane, and his glasses flash in the sunlight as he tilts his head downwards to meet Sabo's glare. His stance is relaxed, as if he isn't standing over a warzone. As if he isn't causing the horrible edge to Luffy's voice – the confusion, fear and grief. The horror he must be feeling right now, with his first mate trying to kill him. And Sabo remembers again – _he's fucking_ _ **fifteen**_. His small, light-hearted fifteen-year old baby brother, fighting for his life in a warzone. The knife in his chest twists.

Sabo takes a swing at Zoro's legs that sends him sprawling onto the ice and, in the second it takes for him to rise, grabs Luffy and sprints for the plaza. They just manage to get to it just as the wall rises, both leaping over just in time, and a second later, Zoro collides with the wall on the other side with an animalistic growl. Luffy huffs a sigh of relief and both brothers look each other in the eye for a second, hair windswept and sticking up in every direction, both bloodied and panting and scared. Sabo cracks a small smile which is hurriedly returned, and for a second, both have a moment of respite.

Then, the teens turn and realise one thing with horror; they're now trapped in the packed plaza with half of the naval forces in existence, all of whom are headed straight for them.

* * *

On the Moby Dick, Jake's breath catches in his throat as he watches the walls come up and he half-stands, jaw clenched, a part of him wanting to do something. On that execution platform sits the one person who was closest to Leo, according to Scarlet. The one person who knew him best in the whole army. And he's going to _die_.

So why can't Jake do anything?

Suddenly, movement on the battlefield draws his eyes. The walls, which just came up between the execution platform and the frozen bay, blocking off the revolutionaries from reaching Ace… Are _going back down_. He doesn't have a clue why – maybe it's some kind of malfunction? – but now the revs begin to flood into the plaza, roaring with renewed vigour, calling to the young commander in shackles above them. They're so brave. Jake's heart swells with something he doesn't recognise, and he stands again, fully this time.

On a whim, knowing that he's going to regret this, Jake slips across the deck and onto the figurehead. He can't see Luffy now, but knows that the other boy is probably just beyond the wall to the plaza, fighting for his life. Unafraid. For a second, the former slave looks down at the ice and swears he can see himself reflected in it. Then, with a deep breath, he jumps away from his haven and into the battle.

The Moby Dick explodes into a mess of burning wood and magma behind him.

* * *

When the walls come down, Luffy and Sabo immediately use the distraction to disappear into the crowd of marines, throwing them easily out of their path, running so fast that the concrete beneath them blurs. The execution platform grows closer and closer, a beacon under the very blue sky, and the younger of the brothers lets out a whoop as they get closer. Nearly there. They're so close now.

"Forgetting about us, Sabo-san?"

Almost falling over, Sabo whirls around, coming face-to-face with Law and the rest of the Strawhats. The former raises an eyebrow at him, lips quirking at the corners. The others have ash and bruises smudged on their faces, blood on their clothes, and their eyes are dark.

"Ah, yeah- Sorry about that," he replies lamely. "Have you seen-"

Luffy yells from up ahead, skidding to a stop, path blocked by the very swordsman they just evaded. The fox mask on his face makes Usopp shiver harshly, and the swordsman's hands are still shaking around his swords. However, even though he seems ready for it, he doesn't attack this time.

Luffy growls from the back of his throat, clenching his fists. "Oi, Flamingo-fuck! Let him go!"

Sabo resist the urge to slap a hand to his forehead, or over the idiot's mouth. "Subtlety, Luffy, _seriously_ ," he mutters.

Doflamingo's malicious laugh floats down to them, and the whole battlefield seems to freeze for a second at the sound of it. "Oh, and why should I?"

Ace yells, _You'd better not get any closer to this platform!_ in Sabo's mind, and he shoves him to the back of his consciousness, trying to focus.

"Do it, or I'll come up there and beat the shit outta-"

Doflamingo sticks his head over the side, looking down at the huddle of pirates, and Zoro still doesn't attack. The tension in the air is near-visible, cold and harsh. "My, how violent," he drawls, still grinning. Then, abruptly, his face twists into a scowl. "Arrogant children need to learn a lesson."

And _now_ Zoro attacks, shooting forwards so fast that Sabo's eyes can't keep track of him. Luffy dodges the first slash with a yell, then the second-

The third slash, diagonal and swinging upwards, he doesn't manage to dodge.

Sabo lets out a wordless yell of rage as Zoro's katana cleaves deeply into Luffy's face, gouging away flesh from below the left corner of his lips to the right side of his forehead and up into his hairline. Luffy's head snaps back and a choked scream of pair pushes its way from his chest as he falls. Sabo barely manages to catch him, lowering his brother gently to the ground, blood slowly beginning to cover his blue coat as Luffy bleeds heavily. It runs in rivulets down his neck, and Sabo clenches his teeth so tightly that they grind against one another.

The Strawhats dart forwards, as one trying to restrain Zoro, and Law sinks to his knees beside the pair of brothers to assess the situation. "That's going to need stitches – a lot of them," he says grimly. "Something to clot the blood wouldn't go amiss, anaesthetic would be needed; this is a serious wound, Sabo-ya."

"What can we do for it now?!" Sabo asks frantically. Luffy convulses in his lap, face screwed up with pain.

"Not much, without proper equipment. I'll ask Chopper-ya if he has any bandages - I can work with them for now." Law snaps his fingers in front of Sabo's face. "Sabo-san. Try to stay alert. Your younger brother will be fine."

Taking a deep breath, Sabo nods, tightening his hold on Luffy. Barely being held off by the Strawhats, Zoro is barely ten feet away, sword still slick with his captain's blood.

Doflamingo laughs again, and an unexplainable rage suddenly pulses through Sabo as he looks up at the man. _He_ did this. _He's_ the reason for Luffy's pain. He's the reason there's so much blood.

"You wanted me to let him go, brat? Fine!" Doflamingo's laughter gets louder and louder, pressing down on Sabo's ears, and the battle around them blurs as he squeezes his eyes shut. "Watch!"

Suddenly, Zoro goes very, very still. The Strawhats freeze, hope on their faces, stepping back a little. Then, the mask slips off the swordsman's face and shatters to the floor. The crew breathe sighs of relief, wiping sweat from their foreheads, moving to go help their fallen captain… But suddenly, Sabo can see in perfect clarity what's about to happen. He opens his mouth to yell, tensing as the realisation hits him. If Doflamingo got the mask on Zoro once, he can get it on him again. They can't let down their guard yet.

But apparently, Zoro knows that snippet of information. Because with barely a flinch in his frame, Zoro looks Sabo straight in the eye, raises his sword and plunges it into his own stomach.

* * *

The lock finally, _finally_ pops open and she releases a small whoop, quiet enough not to attract the attention of the guards who are still patrolling. Glancing left and right to make sure the way is clear, she opens the cell door and slips out before beginning to run, feet pounding up the corridor, no longer caring if anybody sees her. Let them try to stop her. The other muts yell as she passes but she ignores them, enhanced muscles singing, letting out a small laugh of glee as the corridors fly past and she leaves her cage behind her.

And there it is – the one thing she's been looking for. The powerdown lever. There's one on every floor, large and red, implanted into the wall beside the stairs. It's the one way to turn everything on its head, power down the cages so they can be opened from the inside.

She doesn't even hesitate before pulling it down.

A second of silence passes – then, there's a metallic whirr and all the lights go out. And suddenly, the captives of base two _surge_ from their cages like freed wolves, yelling, screaming, rejoicing. They run past her like she isn't there but she doesn't mind, simply grinning at all of the joy here, fur raising as sound rings up and down the halls. Somewhere, she hears the guards yell, but they're abruptly silenced. _Shouldn't have cut back on security,_ she thinks viciously.

"Hey!" somebody on the stairs yells up at her. She glances down, grin widening when she catches sight of her adoptive sister. They share grins, incredulous but joyful. "You coming, Carrot?"

"Yeah!" she calls in reply, beaming. And together, in accordance to all of their wildest dreams, she and Kaya run for the exit.

* * *

Zoro looks down at the blade in his stomach as if he hasn't quite registered that it's there. His forehead is beaded with sweat beneath the blood, knotted in pain, but his eyes are blank. As if they're already dead. Nami lunges forwards - the Strawhats move as one - but the one closest to Zoro, his captain, can do nothing but let a wordless, heart-wrenching scream of rage tear from between his gritted teeth, as if somebody has just plunged a hot poker into his heart.

Then, time speeds back into the whirling vortex of war. The world comes back to its senses and moves on, and the screams seem to burst back into full clarity around them, and Luffy feels like yelling - feels like he must tear this whole place down to the dust - because nothing is the same anymore. The world can't just speed back up. How can this war carry on, hurling itself back into a kaleidoscope of the reds and blacks of peril, when the swordsman has now begun to choke on his own blood? When the life is draining from his eyes, and his crew can do nothing to stop it?

Zoro removes his sword with agony on his face and falls, something muffled that sounds like 'captain' falling from his lips. It's all so wrong. The Strawhat Pirates, even Sanji, crowd around Zoro as if just by being there, they can stop the dark, pus-specked pool of blood seeping across the floor. The teen, however, has eyes only for his captain; Luffy's breaths are coming so rapidly that he's close to hyperventilation, on his knees in front of his best friend, afraid to touch him in case he makes things worse. The wound on his face looks gruesome and twisted, but luckily the bleeding has slowed a little.

Luffy's voice is cracked and hoarse. He sounds far younger than he did a few minutes ago. "...Zoro? What- what are you doing?" His voice hardens, though it's now beginning to choke up with helpless sobs. "Get up! W-Why aren't you... Why don't you just g-get u-!"

With morbid fascination on his face, Zoro reaches down and presses a hand to his wound - a wound so wide that it almost sinks into it - and withdraws the appendage after a second, staring at the blood on it with blank eyes. Then he falls, so suddenly that half of the crew (the ones who weren't already trembling violently) flinch. His young captain catches him.

Ducking his head until his nose touches green hair, Luffy chokes on a whisper. Blood runs down his face and onto his swordsman's hair. "Please get up...!"

With a shaking hand, still drenched in blood, Zoro reaches up to touch his own collarbone. Consciousness is fading from his eyes and his muscles twitch weakly. He runs a finger along the bone in a diagonal and presses a slurred whisper into Luffy's neck of, "Happy..."

A second later, he coughs a glob of blood onto Luffy's shoulder and slips, unable to control his own writhing body, hitting the ground with finality. And, disobeying a captain's order for the first time, he doesn't get back up.

* * *

 **Ooooh damn, intense chapter!**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 39, Jul 22:**

 ** _calm before the storm much_**

 **you know me too well, ty!**

 **Kawaii Snowdrop, Chapter 39, Jul 22:**

 ** _Awww, the reunion between sabo and Luffy was so precious, what smoll beans.  
(Also, I keep remembering that the war in this story is happening a few years earlier than canon - they're just children have mercy!)  
I'm kinda hoping that the war won't follow the canon events toooo closely, since there's so many confounding variables (it's surely an AU for a reason right? *prepares for tragedy nonetheless*)  
Also, is garp related to any of the three brothers in this AU? The whole, "Shanks is Luffy's dad" thing is messing with me slightly XD_**

 **Hey!  
yeah, they're such adorable dorks and I love them. Let's hope they don't get hurt ;)  
I IM A FANFIC WRITER I HAVE NO MERCY  
yeah… prepare for tragedy. Seriously.  
you'll find out!  
thanks for reviewing! ily!**

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 39, Jul 22:**

 ** _shit's going down_**

 **damn right**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 39, Jul 23:**

 ** _-distant laughter slowly grows louder and more hysterical-_**

 **There, there. Don't worry, ace** ** _totally_** **isn't gonna die. Nope. Nope not at all**

 **YJV, Chapter 39, Jul 23:**

 ** _Gah, you are so NOT sorry! QwQ. OK, one thing though, if they live, then all three have to all live, and if they die, then they all die. All or nothing the heartbreak from just one of them surviving would be colossal. They already believed Luffy died, then Ace believed Sabo died, Luffy had to see that God awful image of Sabo at deaths door, and now, they have to deal with the fact that Ace might die if they aren't fast enough. Haven't they suffered enough?  
But anyway, love you~_**

 **Heyo!  
you're right – im not that sorry! but still – not ALL of them are gonna die. And trust me, im not killing all of ASL, I promise!  
wow….i am really mean to them, huh? Damn.  
I love you too!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 39, Jul 23:**

 ** _I knew, as soon as I read the title, that my life was way too far gone for me to retrieve ,_,  
And, the brothers are all together. How long they will stay alive together is another story most likely ._.  
At least you're not the idiot(me) who named their tiny stuffed green sheep "Egg" just because he is shaped kind of like one.  
Son, I will mother you in the chat if I find out you don't take care of yourself lmao. Idc if Ari says she da mum  
Update~_**

 **Heya!  
yep, shit is GOING DOWN. And this chapter is even worse :D  
true, true  
YOURE NOT AN IDIOT. EVEN THOUGH THAT'S HILARIOUS  
awww, you big mother hen. Fine, I guess im son now. Lee no longer exists.  
thanks for the review, ily!**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 39, 7h ago:**

 ** _you are NOT GETTING A PROPER REVIEW FROM ME BECAUSE YOU ARE /EVIL/ AND SENT ME THE ENDING TO YOUR OWN DAMN STORY AND YOU'RE KILLING MY BOYS AND ASDFGHJKL_**

 **HEY ZOE LMAO  
yeah I know the ending was really….** ** _really_** **extreme but don't worry, they're not all dead! I think…  
thanks for reviewing, ily!**


	41. 3-10 - Release

**Warnings: nothing explicit, violence and cursing**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **HEYYY it's my birthday today! Sorry this chapter took so long, I've been busy but hopefully it's decent! thanks to my gf and my bro ty for the help with this chapter, it was amazing and without your motivation i prob would have taken a lot longer to do it! it sucks that i had to finish this on my b-day but at the end of the day it's finished now and i can go do fuck all with my friends!  
**

 **i hope you enjoy! shit REALLY goes down in this chap lmao i hope you're prepared**

* * *

 **Chapter 41 – Release**

* * *

On the execution platform, Ace's heart clenches in his chest as he watches the swordsman fall from Luffy's arms and hit the floor. For a second, nobody in the small, mismatched cluster moves. Then, Luffy turns his body and is pulled away from the green-haired man and into Sabo's chest. The crew, previously clustered around the swordsman like a protective barrier, fall backwards with varying degrees of grief on their faces. From this distance, Ace can see the small reindeer and the redheaded girl - the one who was shot - sobbing. Most of the others are wiping tears, and the two blonde heads in the group are bowed, one trying to comfort Luffy, the other looking slightly lost.

The familiar, dark-haired man who came with Sabo reaches over to feel the swordsman's pulse. And after a second, he shakes his head.

Doflamingo is laughing, so loudly that Ace can hear him from where he is. Merciless and insane, he looks down at the grief he's caused with a twisted grin on his face. The teen can hear Luffy's wails too, almost drowned out by the song of war raging below, muffled into Sabo's chest. His heart clenches, feeling like is being squeezed in his chest. The swordsman must have meant a lot to him. Ace wonders in a passing thought whether he was the one who was there for Luffy when his brothers couldn't be.

The marines push forwards with new vigour, converging on the fallen group like a tide, and Ace grits his teeth, a yell escaping him. Sabo tightens his arms around Luffy as if he knows what's coming and for a second, Ace is sure that this is the end for them, but suddenly the commanders are there - Marco, Vista, Jozu, Izo, Scarlet and more, some rushing to help the Strawhats, others forcing the marines backwards with ease. Sabo hauls Luffy up, supporting the kid to the point where he's close to carrying him, and a revolutionary medic rushes in to bandage his copiously bleeding face. A wave of regret washes through Ace as he realises that Luffy is going to have yet another scar.

Marco looks up at Ace. There's a burn on the older man's cheek and some dotting his arms, evidently from his fight with Kizaru. They meet eyes and Marco mouths, 'Just hang on'. Ace tries to yell back, tries to scream that they should all flee before they're killed here, but his voice isn't working. Eyes stinging, he ducks his head, surrounded by the yells and screams of his family as they fight to save him. Above, smoke from guns and explosions has begun to blot out the blue of the sky, choking and painful.

They're all dying for him. For Ace. For the nutcase of a commander who couldn't even handle losing some stupid imaginary friend, who had to run against their wishes. He isn't worth this. He isn't worth any of their lives. But somehow, chained above the raging sea of fighters... Now, more than ever, he wants to live.

"We'll be there soon, Ace!"

Ace's head snaps up and he makes eye contact with Luffy. Bandages cover half of the kid's face, crossing the edge of his lips and covering one of his eyes. The other eye is bloodshot and filled with tears, but he swipes at them angrily, fire filling him once again. The loss of the swordsman obviously hurt him, but he's shoving it down until he can't feel it anymore, and it makes Ace's chest hurt that he has to. Beside him, Sabo tenses, ready to throw himself back into the battle.

"Yeah, just wait for us!" With that, Sabo pushes past Vista and swings a now-flaming pipe at a cluster of marines, using his gift for the first time in this battle. Many revolutionaries stop and stare, most of them letting out gasps of surprise at the sight of Ace's gift being used by somebody else, but Sabo ignores them, flames growing hotter and hotter around him until they're close to white in colour. He uses his pipe in both hands as somebody might use a rifle for a second, firing off pressurised bullets of flame from the tip that explode all around them. Luffy barely flinches as the fire comes oh-so-close to his skin, batting at it like it's nothing more than a pesky fly. The tears in his eyes glint in the firelight as he throws himself back into the fight at his brother's side. Revolutionaries converge on the swordsman's body until Ace can't see him anymore. Slowly but surely, the group Luffy came with pull each other to their feet and join their captain in the vortex of the fight

Ace grits his teeth as he sees blood start to seep through the bandages on Luffy's face but he pulls his eyes away, determined not to look desperate, determined not to make his family fight even harder than they are right now just to save him. Kneeling here, hunched and unable to do anything while they fight for their lives... He's pitiful. They must all think he's worthless as he watches them die. Ace himself starts to believe it too.

There's a sharp hissing noise directly ahead in the bay and his head shoots up. A magma fist the size of a small mountain just missed Whitebeard by an inch, crashing into the ice, but the old man doesn't seem flustered in the slightest. He retaliates instantly by sending Akainu flying backwards ten, twenty feet - the admiral hits the ice with such force that it seems to rock the wood beneath Ace's knees. Behind them, framing the whole battle in light as intense as the sun, the Moby is burning. Ace doesn't have much affection for the ship, having never actually stepped foot on the old ship, but he bows his head all the same. To many of the older revolutionaries, that ship means a lot.

Shanks is now tearing at Kizaru, their movements so quick that Ace can barely comprehend who's who, battling viciously as ice cracks beneath their feet. Kizaru towers over the pirate, light sword throwing the other's face into sharp relief, but the only emotion Ace can make out on his face is grim determination. Shanks is utterly unafraid. Against his will, Ace's mind flashes back to seeing the Hyumangoddo for the first time, to being protected and cared for by the first person in his life who ever bothered too. The anguish curling in his chest grips tighter, closing around Ace's airway, and for a second he forgets to breathe. He can feel the chains around him shaking with the force of his own tremors and doesn't bother to hold them back anymore. knowing that it's no use.

Luffy's yell of excitement reaches Ace's ears and he looks up just in time to see his brother reach the foot of the execution platform and begin to scale it, painstakingly slowly but managing all the same. Revolutionaries crowd in around him, protecting the small teen from marines, and Sabo stands at the bottom ready to catch him if he falls. He half looks like he wants to go up with him. Ace can feel both his elation and anxiety, more acute than anything he's felt since they first established the bond - maybe because they're so close now. Less than a hundred feet away from each other now.

Suddenly, it hits Ace.

Kizaru and Akainu are fighting - but where's Aokiji?

A blur, far too fast for the eye to make out, slams into Luffy and sends him crashing to the ground with a yell. Confused, the revolutionaries around the platform scatter and marines crowd in, stationing themselves around the base of the wooden structure. Sabo is shoved to the ground and his head hits the floor with a loud ' _crack_ ' that makes Ace's insides curl. To the left of the platform, Luffy is slammed into the ground; and there's the man himself, Aokiji in all of his composed coldness, stabbing a lance of ice through his shoulder. Ace lets out a wordless yell like a wounded animal, seeing Luffy's face screw up with agony, desperate to get down there and _get his brothers away from here right now_.

Of course, however, he can do nothing but watch as Aokiji twists the lance. Luffy grits his teeth, a small scream of frustration ripping from his throat, glaring up at the imposing man over him with so much anger in his eyes that a lesser man would have flinched. "No... _No!_ I have to save Ace - let me go, you fu-" A sharp gasp of pain cuts off his yelling.

Aokiji looks down at Luffy with his head tilted slightly to the side, as it he's trying to guess what the teen is thinking. Then, to Ace's utter perplexion, he removes the lance of ice from his shoulder and pulls Luffy up by the throat, hand wrapped around his neck not tight enough to cut off his breathing. Ace dimly feels Sabo curse in the back of his mind, too focused on what's going on down below. Aokiji mutters something he can't make out to Luffy, lips barely moving, and the younger's face erupts into shock for a second before he nods slightly. With each passing second, Ace grows more confused.

Suddenly, Luffy lashes out his foot in what looks like an incredibly weakened kick - it makes contact with Aokiji's stomach and he drops Luffy, falling backward for just enough time to allow him to get away and out of his reach. Nobody else was watching - nobody but Ace saw the short exchange. And Ace knows one thing for sure- there's no way that kick was really strong enough to even make Aokiji twitch.

 _So why did he drop Luffy?_

Blood clotting in his blonde hair, Sabo stumbles to his feet, shoving off a medic trying to tend to him. "Luffy?!" Ace can hear him bellowing from far below, "Luffy, answer me! Where are you?!"

Luffy echoes the call. "I'm over here - look, we need to get back onto the-"

Just as the brothers reach each other, both checking the other for injuries in a manner that's close to frantic, the ground shakes beneath the platform so violently that Ace almost falls to the side, chains digging into his neck. Both of his brothers - already disorientated - as well as many other fighters fall to the ground. In the bay, Ace can see Whitebeard with his fist implanted in the ground, sending tremor after colossal tremor through the foundations of the island. He can feel his teeth vibrating. The execution platform shakes dangerously, and Ace swears he can feel it tilt, but before Whitebeard can finish the job- Ace's mouth falls open in horror.

He can hear Marco's yell of rage, the unanimous gasp of horror from the revs, as Akainu finally gets a hit on Whitebeard. The huge old man actually stumbles backwards a few steps with a rumbling grunt of pain as a magma-coated fist is sunk into his chest like a hot knife into butter, and Ace realises that he just yelled so loudly that his throat is stinging but he doesn't care. Nobody's meant to hurt Oyaji. There's simply nobody in the world strong enough to. It would be like trying to topple an age old mountain - and Akainu is now the first person Ace has ever seen who's even come close.

Sabo and Luffy pull each other up to fight, but the damage is done. The revs are so distracted, so distressed, that the marines are able to push forwards and force them farther and farther from the podium again with every second. Desperation fills Sabo, and Ace knows all of a sudden that he's about to do something very, very stupid.

 _Wait, what are you-_

"Luffy, stretch!"

Time seems to slow down. Luffy throws his arm forwards, his other hand grasping Sabo's tightly as if he has to keep them connected, and it extends teen feet – twenty, twenty-five, until his fingers are an inch from the edge of the execution platform. They're so close that Ace could reach out and touch them, was he not tied so tightly. They get close enough to brush the wood, Ace's heart leaps-

Then it falls like a stone into his stomach. A marine on the ground sees the opportunity for an open shot and takes it, and her well-aimed bullet hits Luffy's hand hard enough to send it snapping back towards him. The emphasis of the recoil sends both brothers to the ground and the blonde with the long fringe from Luffy's group stops to help them both up. Despite his obvious impairment, he's holding his own like any other in this battle - though Ace can see a bold bruise beginning to form on his left cheekbone, and one of his eyes is swollen shut. A second later, the dark-haired man who came with Sabo runs up beside them and tapes a pad of gauze to the bloody patch on Sabo's forehead before he can protest. Ace sends the stranger a silent thank you (the stranger, who is somehow still strangely familiar to him).

Suddenly, something hard settles into Luffy's eyes. He rips his hand away from Sabo's and sprints forwards, throwing aside a pink-haired marine like it's nothing, soon being pulled into a frantic tussle with a marine captain. He headbutts the man hard, sending him reeling backwards, and wobbles on his feet for a few seconds before running onward, past his crew, stepping over bodies to reach the execution platform. Then, he reaches the cluster of marines around the foot of the tower, and disappears from Ace's view altogether, sucked into a mass of white and blue uniforms. His yells abruptly silence.

Ace doesn't realise that tears of frustration are rolling down his face until they drip from his chin, into the battle far below.

" _Luffy!"_

* * *

From his place in the bay, Edward Newgate can just make out one of his youngest sons on the execution platform, form looking impossibly small over the raging tides of war that churn below him. The other revolutionaries are fighting their hardest beneath him, fierce as lions, and Whitebeard's heart swells with pride for a second. He knows, then and there, that they're going to save him or die trying. Shanks and Kizaru are dancing around one another to Newgate's left, fighting what anybody else would assume to be a vicious battle but what is really a teasing, cautious game. Neither hit too hard or move too boldly yet. They're getting a feel for the other.

Newgate wishes he could say the same for his and Akainu's fight. The magma brat is throwing himself into it like a savage beast, pelting his opponent with lava at every opportunity, moving around Whitebeard so fast that his eyes actually struggle slightly to keep up. He's still inevitably winning, though – nobody is stupid enough to claim otherwise. Whitebeard could surely beat this punk with his eyes closed.

He stretches out a fist and prepares another earth-shattering punch, powering spreading through his veins like ice, before suddenly, Whitbeard is hit with the horrible feeling that something is about to go terribly, terribly wrong. He barely has moments to prepare. Slamming Akainu into the ice to hard that it leaves the admiral dazed, the old man's eyes catch a glint of metal at his waist and he rips the key from his waistband before kicking Akainu in the head, so hard that he's sent flying across the ice and slams into the wall of the bay fifty feet away.

Less time, now, until it happens. Key to Ace's cuffs in hand, Whitebeard reaches down and grabs the shoulder of a small passing figure, who is dressed in oversized revolutionary uniform and, thankfully, no scrap of white and blue. He presses the key into the kid's hand and grins before shoving him forwards. Then, seconds later, it happens.

Blackbeard's fleet emerges on the hazy horizon.

* * *

Shivering and sopping wet, Haley swims hard, limbs jerking and stiff with the cold. She can see Marineford now, can just about make out the execution platform. The sky above the hulking island is dark with smoke, as if the battle has obtained its own private raincloud. It's so close now, she just has to swim a little harder. She just has to ignore the cold, the fatigue that's settling into her veins. She just has to get there in time.

 _So close now!_

* * *

Jake takes a deep breath, then another. He's being buffeted by bodies on all sides, but nobody is paying much attention to him, as he isn't fighting. His limbs feel weak, and he's lightheaded. The key in his hands feels so cold that it burns his skin.

Ahead of him, blonde hair reflecting the light, Luffy's brother is fighting so hard that sweat is dripping from his chin – there's a piece of gauze on his forehead that looks close to falling off, and the pipe in his hands is being clutched so tightly that his knuckles are white with the strain. The marines converge on him but he pushes them back and pushes them back, no fear in his eyes, every inch of his body taught with the tension of the fight. Jake stares, transfixed, watching the grotesque yet hypnotizing dance the older teen performs around the marines. His legs refuse to move – his arms won't obey him, his hands won't stop shaking. At Jake's left, a body falls and blood splatters across his face. He flinches hard.

Luffy's yells, so loud earlier, no longer pierce the air. Jake can see him, skin slick with blood and sweat, clawing at the marines that pin him to the foot of the tower barely twenty feet in front of him. His brown eyes are rolling dangerously, mouth open in a silent, jagged scream, but he refuses to let go of his grasp on consciousness. Even so, Jake can still see no fear in his stance, nor his expression, nor his expressive eyes. He fights like a cornered animal and the marines just can't seem to suppress him no matter how hard they try.

Another deep breath, and Jake's mind grasps around the bare outline of a plan.

He takes one step, then another, legs shaking so violently that it's hard to stay standing. Claustrophobia kicks in as the war closes in around him. Somebody takes a swing at his head and Jake ducks almost instinctively, barely noticing what he's doing. His hand closes tighter around the key. Setting his jaw, he takes another, firmer step – then he starts to run.

It's a huge effort just to put one foot in front of the other. Jake is shaking so badly that it chatters his teeth, panic washing through his systems like a flood, but he forces himself on and forces himself through it until the world around him, as well as every sensation in his body, numbs. All he can feel is the pounding of his head and the tight sensation of breath entering and leaving his chest, each gasp sending hysteria shooting through him. Leo's voice in his head whispers, _they're going to kill you. Turn back before it's too late._

Jake doesn't turn back.

A bullet shoots past his head, so close that his ear begins a shrill ringing, and the fourteen-year old stumbles to the side with a yelp. He can feel blood on his cheek, rolling from the side of his head, and it feels like something must have ruptured inside his skull; still, however, he carries on. He meets Luffy's eyes through the haze for a second, brown into grey, and the older boy's mouth falls open – then, Jake continues running and the split-second connection is over. The guards appear to surround the execution platform entirely, and for a heart stopping second Jake is convinced that they do, before he breathes a sigh of relief. The back is still open, unguarded. The scaffolding holding up the platform looks climbable enough, so he just has to make his way the entire way around.

Suddenly, Jake lets out a small scream of pain as a bullet tears through his left arm. He almost drops the key but luckily, the pain only causes his grip to strengthen, so fiercely tight that he can feel the ridges of the key cutting into his skin. A marine must have spotted him. Heart pounding, he breaks out into a run, bullets sparking off the concrete at his heels as he sprints for the back of the platform. When he reaches it he practically flings his body onto it, jumping to grab a high beam and using every ounce of the fading strength in his body just to grap the next and pull, grunting with the effort it takes and the pain it forces through him. Bullets dent the wood all around and one grazes his chin, sending a shooting pain up his face like fire.

Jake forces himself onwards, ignoring Leo's voice telling him that he's going to die, ignoring the pain and the fear and the bullets, focusing only on one thing. On being brave. On thanking Ace, who was apparently there for Leo when even _he_ couldn't be, and saving him.

One rung of wood. Two.

A revolutionary soldier notices Jake and yells, pointing. More heads snap up, and Jake is already halfway up the tower. The bullets chasing him up the wooden frame abruptly stop, as somebody must have taken down the marine gunning for him, and cheers and yells of encouragement break out through the crowd.

"Go on, Jake!" a female voice yells. Jake meets Scarlet's eyes and nods, breath hitching with panic. He's a very long way from the ground now.

The blonde brother looks up and, even though his teeth are bloody and his face is bruised, he shoots Jake a blindingly bright smile. His silver eyes dance with elation as more shouts break out, the revolutionaries rising back to their feet, morale renewed. Jake pushes himself harder with hundreds of eyes on him, nearly falling multiple times but forcing himself onwards, body tense with aches and pains. The top of the execution platform is in sight.

By the time Jake reaches the lip of the platform, both executioners are dead – revolutionary snipers, probably. Sengoku is in the middle of some monstrous transformation, skin morphing into a sharp gold colour, but a flaming blue blur knocks him from the platform with a piercing caw before he can finish.

The cheers rise incredibly, and Jake can hear Ace's voice practically screaming, " _Pidge!_ "

The flaming blue bird and Sengoku hit the Navy HQ building behind the platform with tremendous force, shattering the marine symbol embossed onto it into a million pieces, but Jake doesn't hang around to watch. Instead, key heavy in his hand, he lunges across the platform to kneel in front of the prisoner, knowing that he has very little time. Ace's chains are all connected to one main padlock, which is secured right beneath his Adam's apple. Jake's hands shake as he tries to unlock it.

"Who are you? A revolutionary?!" Ace demands, both hope and dread in his voice.

"I'm Jake!" the teen replies, ear still ringing, the sound of the battle below resembling the buzzing of flies with his hearing this damaged. "You helped my big brother, I'm helping you- Watch out!"

A barrage of bullets shoot at the pair from marine HQ, most likely from a sniper stationed in the shadows there, and Jake pulls Ace down. He doesn't realise that he's using his own body to save the other from the assault until it's over, and Ace is staring at him wide-eyed, face slack with shock.

"You- I- What?!"

"You used to be best friends with Leo Jackson!" Ace's eyes, if it's possible, widen even further. He jolts harshly in his chains. "He was my brother. And if he cared about you, then so do I!"

The lock pops open and Ace slumps forwards, boneless, head hitting the execution platform. The revolutionaries yell out in mingled celebration and panic as his body slumps, like a puppet with no strings attached. For one terrifying second, Jake thinks that he's dead. Then he rolls his head around, grey eyes glinting, and meets Jake's gaze.

"Thank you," he says emphatically, and it means more than just that.

Jake understands. He nods.

And Ace's fire sings forwards, burning the platform to the ground around them.

* * *

 **ASDAGAEGHSEH WHOOP ACE IS FREE**

 **Once again, happy birthday to me and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Nandbbdjeixnbxba, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _OMG u killed Zoro! I am so freaking out rn!_**

 **Ahh! Just the same as everybody else!  
I love causing you guys heartbreak lmao  
thanks for the review, ily!**

 **Guest, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _Nope  
Awesome scene but nope  
If Zoro does die ... grrrrrrrr  
(Thank you for breaking my soul)_**

 **This is it. the epitome of cry-reviews. And I am LIVING  
YOU'RE WELCOME FOR BREAKING YOUR SOUL ANON  
YOU'RE FUCKING WELCOME, I HAD FUN DOING IT**

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _Zoro you better not die 'cause I'm gonna kill you if you do_**

 **BIT LATE FOR THAT LMAO**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _Welp yep nope I'm done why this Zoro no I can't not okay why though gaaaaahhhh help_**

 **I did this….i did this…..causing emotions makes me feel dangerously powerful  
thanks for reviewing! ilysm!**

 **YJV, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _Wow, omg, is Zoro freaking dead?! Omg, the first important casualty of the war! I hope Sabo goes total apeshit on doflamingo for what he has done to Lu and Zoro. Cause if luffy can defeat Doflamingo, then Sabo can do it with ease. Fear the flames! XD and yes you are so mean! I don't want ANY of the ASL to die! They have to all live! And even if it cannot be helped and there's a death, then they all die tgt. All for one, and one for all and all that. Loves~_**

 **Hey!  
yeah, zoro snuffed it! and I feel bad but it was necessary because plot  
don't worry, he will go nuts on him later on – though for a diff reason. Wink wink  
YOU KNOW ACE GON DIE. THERE. I SAID IT.  
love you, thanks for reviewing!**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _i cANT?  
i literally hate you right now  
satan_**

 **ty I love you but goddamn  
I love hurting you like this  
YES I AM SATAN YOU KNOW IT LIL BRO**

 **Marine Sabo, Chapter 40, Jul 25:**

 ** _So this is basically one of those if sabo were there during marineford fics?_**

 **I…guess? I mean, aside from the masses of other plot in the fic, yeah**

 **Jeez, Chapter 40, Jul 26:**

 ** _I'm... I'm crying? UMMMM, THIS? IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO END LIKE THIS? YOU FUCKER, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR TOYING WITH MY FEELINGS!  
That was a sentence I never expected to say. On another note, nice chapter. Is Zoro dead? Will Doflamingo use his powers to control other members of the crew, of any of the revolutionaries? I can't wait to see what else you have in store for this story, because it clearly isn't over just yet._**

 **Hey!  
I LOVE YOU TOO, BOTH FOR READING THE FIC AND FOR MAKING ME LAUGH WITH THIS REVIEW AHAHAHA  
is he dead? Probably! Well, definitely. Good question! Though I don't think he'd be able to. Zoro is… a special case  
yep, isn't over yet! Close, though.  
thanks for reviewing. ily!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 40, Jul 26:**

 ** _SON WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BBIES LUFFY AND ZORO  
Lee doesn't exist anymore mwahahahahah  
Update~_**

 **WHAT HAVE I DONE. WHAT HAVE I DONE INDEED.  
ahah, guess I'm gone now! Tell my readers I love them  
thanks for the review!**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 40, Jul 27:**

 ** _where the hell is zoe so the two of us could just lay on the ground together and cry  
i am disowning you, you witch, i refuse to talk to you_**

 **zoe come cry with ari lmao  
awww cmon, you love me really!  
thanks for review ari, ilysm**


	42. 3-11 - Portgas D Ace

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **…enjoy?**

* * *

 **Chapter 42 – Portgas D. Ace**

* * *

Ace wraps an arm around the Jake's neck and jumps, suspended in open air for a second, feeling air rush over his skin. Then they fall. He watches the ground rush up to meet them and rolls at the last second so Jake lands on top of him and he cushions the fall with his own back, protecting the smaller boy from the hit. The impact with the ground shocks the air out of his lungs and the pair roll for a second before coming to a halt, lying on the concrete a few feet apart. For one shuddering second, the battlefield is silent.

Then, everything screams back into motion and colour. A roar rises up through the crowd – Sengoku is yelling, the marines are panicking, AANGEL and the other rescuers are cheering and screaming, voices hoarse. The revolutionaries around Ace crowd in, protecting him from the marines as he pulls himself and Jake up. His head rolls slightly as he blinks the darkness out of his eyes. The revs fight more viciously than before, morale back up, yelling and cheering as the one they came to protect stands, a free man. In the crowd of fighters, Ace can make out Marco's blonde hair and his heart clenches tightly in his chest, emotion swelling up inside him like a balloon. He's surrounded by his family again.

A marine manages to get through and takes a wild swing at Ace's head. He shoves Jake down and his about to parry the blow when a redheaded blur flies past him, kicking the marine so hard in the stomach that he keels over before using her staff to smash his face in. He falls, completely limp, to the ground. It's the girl who was shot earlier – one of Luffy's group. Her previously long, curly ponytail is now little more than a sheared-off stub, and she shoots Ace a grim nod before taking on another foe. Something in Ace recognises her, but he can't put a name to her face.

But if she's here, then her leader must be…

 _Ace! Look ou-_

Sabo's voice comes a second too late. Something dark crashes into Ace's midriff with the pure force of a torpedo, sending him flying backwards with such momentum that he flips backwards in mid-air. Both he and the _something_ slam into the ground and skid a few feet, the rough concrete scraping up Ace's calves and arms, and the revolutionary is stunned for a few seconds. The sky above, dark with smoke, spins for a moment before the world rights itself and his senses return.

There's something – or, rather, some _one_ – sitting practically in his lap, shaking and heaving, arms curled around Ace's back to hold him as tight as they possibly can. They're bent over awkwardly to hold him, back hunched, face hidden in his upper stomach. And their messy, black hair tickles Ace's bare skin, holding such familiarity that his already full heart practically explodes like a time bomb in his chest. With shaking, desperate hands, Ace pushes his _little brother's_ head back to look him in the eyes. Grey meets warm, teary brown. Luffy's face is screwed up and red, smeared with blood and ash and a million other things Ace can't name, and half covered in bandages where his swordsman slashed him. He looks like he's holding back a sob, lower lip curled up and trembling. But he's _alive._ After four long years, he's actually alive.

Uncaring of where they are or what's happening around them, Ace grabs Luffy and pulls him into a fierce embrace, arms curled tightly around his neck, hand curled into a mop of black hair. Luffy returns the affection eagerly, burying his face in Ace's shoulder, letting himself be pulled up against a bruised chest and wrapping both of his legs around Ace's waist to stay as close to him as he possibly can. The fire-user tucks Luffy's head beneath his chin, pressing his lips against his downy hair, his whole body trembling with emotion. The world around fades into white noise, and the elder of the pair squeezes his eyes shut, tightening his arms almost impulsively. He can feel his younger brother's heart beating against his chest, and can hear his deep panting against his shoulder.

Sabo crashes into the pair from the side, all of the grace that he showed when fighting earlier gone. Ace can feel his gloved hand in his hair, arm wrapping around his back with a kind of unbridled affection Sabo rarely shows. Apparently, however, this is an exception. The two elder brothers share breaths, cheeks pressed together, staring into the other's eyes to intensely that Ace's trembles grow. After a moment, Sabo crushes Ace against his chest, letting out a soft whine of relief from the back of his throat. Ace clings on tightly, one arm wrapped around Luffy's neck and the other around Sabo.

All three brothers are shaking. They're sprawled uncomfortably on the ground, battle raging around them, but they don't care. For just a minute, they're all together. "I'm not leaving you two. Ever again," Ace manages to gasp out, face squashed against a clothed chest, breathing deeply.

"We're not letting you," replies Luffy.

"What he said," Sabo murmurs into Ace's hair.

Suddenly, the world comes rushing back around them. The revolutionaries have managed to hold back the marines for now, but their protective wall won't hold much longer. They need to get moving. Ace pulls his brothers to their feet. Luffy wobbles for a second, unsteady, before Sabo reaches out to support him with concerned eyes. Glancing around, Ace lets his hand be gripped tightly by the fifteen-year old, knowing that it's his way of making sure Ace doesn't leave him. The mess of emotions churning through Sabo are easily felt, and Ace returns them fully, a lump in his throat.

The dark-haired, familiar man comes hurtling past, deflecting three bullets aimed at Sabo's head that even Ace didn't sense. "You three might want to think about getting out of here," he says dryly.

Ace's face colours – but then, it hits him. "You're the guy who gave us our tattoos! Back at Edgetown!"

The older teen gives him a look that says, 'no shit' and sprints off to take on a meaty, burly marine advancing on them. Through the amplification den-den he has, Sengoku's voice yells, "Don't let Ace and his two companions get away! They're all wanted criminals!"

Still having the life squeezed out of his hand, Ace scans the crowd one last time for Marco before taking off running, Sabo on one side and Luffy on the other, away from the execution platform and in the direction of the bay. The revolutionaries let out a cheer and they start moving too, pushing past marines, helping up fallen comrades, flanking Ace and his brothers. Ace hears Marco's voice ring out over the chaos, but can't make out the words he's saying.

Luffy slips slightly, knees buckling, and a boy with dark skin and a long nose dives in to catch him under the arms before Sabo can even think to. He steadies himself, wiping a little blood from his cheek, before smiling and saying, "Thanks, Usopp!"

'Usopp', however, isn't looking at Luffy. His slack-jawed gaze shoots right over his head, past Sabo, straight at-

"Wait – _you_ know Ace too?!" Luffy pouts, turning to Sabo. "Like half of my crew know Ace! How does that even happen?!"

"You'd swear the author has a thing for reunions," Sabo mutters under his breath, before coughing and saying, "Hate to break this up, Ace, but we need to move." To emphasise his point, he swings his pipe hard into a marine's eye, ripping it out in a spray of blood and stringy tendons. " _Now_."

Ace shakes his his head, as if to dispel the shock in his eyes, and turns away from Usopp. "We'll talk later!" he yells over his shoulder, before grabbing Luffy and taking off again, pushing both himself and his brothers into the tide of revolutionaries. Ahead of them, past the smoke, the sky is bright blue.

Despite himself, Ace feels his face break into a grin. He's free. He's with his brothers, and going home, and he really, really wants to live.

* * *

Haley heaves herself onto the ice, sopping wet and shivering, the salt making her eyes water. Gasping for breath, she scrambles for a few seconds, unable to get a firm grip on the ice, before she finally manages to plunge one of her blades into the slippery, rough surface. They're already slightly bent just from the swim - they weren't made for this - and she knows that they won't last very long in the heat of the battle. Every nerve in her body is pulled taut, freezing cold and alive with electric tension.

Ahead, the battlefield is a grim, monochrome blur. Her wet clothes weigh her down as she stumbles forwards, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion. Haley knows that she must look ridiculous, wearing torn clothes, soaking wet and dragging herself into a battle like a drowned rat. She's too tired to care. The Moby Dick is burning in the water, a beacon that blurs her vision. Past that, in the bay, Whitebeard and Akainu are at each other's throats. Whitebeard is obviously winning, but not by much. The sweat on his forehead is visible even from here. And past that still – over the stampede of revolutionaries, past the execution platform – are the Foxes.

Doflamingo stands on a wooden structure, in front of the army of identical masks. He's blurred at this distance, little more than a pinkish blur, but Haley can see him clearly in her mind's eye.

He's looking right at her.

She tightens her grip on the blades and pushes on, knowing that even though this is the last leg of the journey, it is sure to be the hardest yet.

* * *

Ace swings a flaming fist over Luffy's head, tugging the smaller teen away from the vicious slash of a sword as a marine sneaks up behind him. In a fluid movement he pulls the sword from the marine's grasp and swings it around, letting it fly and lodge itself into the neck of another soldier. Every part of him is on high-alert, heart pounding wildly in his chest like a frantic water pump, breathing short as it rasps through his teeth. Tattoo-guy and Sabo work surprisingly well as a team, darting around each other on light feet, every second a heartbeat closer to being struck down but never quite reaching it.

Luffy is panting hard now. Blood drips down his neck from under the bandage across his face and every couple of seconds he stumbles, legs shaking with exertion. In any other situation, Ace would be doing his best to support the younger boy. For now, however, all he can do is try his best to protect him. Ahead, the ocean grows closer – but more and more marines seem to be pressing in, the sound of bullets leaving Ace's ears ringing, the smell of smoke heavy in the air.

"Ace!" Sabo yells, flipping smoothly out of the way of a glinting black sword, "How are you using your fire?! You said they injected you with something to stop it!"

"I don't know!" Ace pants, "The second Jake got rid of the cuffs it all just came back!"

"Who's Jake?!"

"God, where do I _begin-_ "

Luffy lets out a ferocious yell, throwing both fists forwards into the stomach of a marine. The man flies backwards and crashes into the ice so hard that he smashes a hole in it, plunging straight into the water below. Cracks snake out from the hole, faster than Ace's eyes can register, lacing under the feet of the rescuers and marines alike. Ominous creaking fills Ace's ears and he and Sabo exchange a panicked glance. They need to get away from here _now_.

Marco appears to have the same idea, materialising alongside the three brothers a moment later. He extends an arm to help support Luffy, who looks close to fainting, and meets Ace's eyes for a second. The softness in his gaze takes Ace aback. "One of our ships is gone but we just had word from Shanks – a few of his crew are waiting on the _East Wind_ for you three. The marines are gunning for you and your brothers the most, Ace, so you need to move before this whole thing collapses. Got it, yoi?"

"What about all of you?!" Ace tries to walk forwards forcefully, but his knees buckle and it's only Sabo's arms that keep him standing. "The Moby is gone – how are the revolutionaries getting away?"

Marco's lips quirk at the corners. "Yee of little faith. We've got a backup plan, yoi. Once we know you're away safely, we've got another ship ready. One with a lot of firepower. We're bringing this whole place to the ground, yoi."

Sabo makes a small noise of comprehension, and his face suddenly twists into a harsh grimace. "It all makes sense now, of course. You…"

"What? What are you talking about?!" Ace's brain feels sluggish – maybe from blood loss, or the drugs the marines gave him – and everything around feels like it's moving a mile a minute. Maybe it is.

"I'll tell you when we get to the _East Wind_." Still scowling, Sabo moves forwards and grabs Luffy, tugging him away from Marco. "Let's just go."

Ace wants to ask, but both Marco and Sab are sending him looks that tell him that he probably shouldn't. "Okay, okay." He turns to Marco one last time. "Stay alive, pineapple."

The man offers a pale imitation of a smile before turning and letting blue flames burst to life around his legs, kicking a marine back as he tries to get the jump on Izo. Sabo calls after him, "Never would've guessed that you care about my brother so little!"

Marco doesn't answer. Ace shoots Sabo an alarmed look at those words, but before he can question them, a figure darts into their field of vision, fighting with all his might.

"Hate to break this up," Law grunts, throwing a huge soldier off him, "But you heard what he said, you three need to go. Ace-ya, I'd suggest an immediate blood transfusion for Strawhat-ya; his blood type is-"

"Hold up, you're coming with us." Luffy clinging onto his arm to stay upright, Sabo turns to Law with a beseeching look. "Aren't you?"

"The Phoenix said you three, Sabo-san. So get there now," replies Law in a firm voice.

"You're not a revolutionary – what if they don't let you get away?! You need to come with us!"

"Sabo, come on!" Ace calls, slightly panicked at the unnatural paleness of Luffy's skin.

"Listen to Ace-ya!" Law narrows his eyes and says meaningfully, " _Trust me_."

Sabo holds the doctor's gaze for a moment, heart thrumming like a bass drum in his chest, before nodding and turning to help Ace. Law disappears into the battle, leaving a hollow feeling in the blonde's gut. Luffy's eyes are rolling dangerously, and the skin that's visible of his face is coated with bruises, swollen and bloodied.

"He can't run much further!" Ace yells, voice breaking.

"I'll try to carry him," Sabo chokes out, breaths coming thick and fast as the battle pushes in around them. "Just let me-"

Suddenly, Luffy raises his head slightly and pulls himself away from Ace, a wet cough rattling through his lungs. When he meets his brothers' eyes, his expression is steely with determination. "I can run! Let's just go, I'm okay!"

Sabo opens his mouth to protest but before he can get the words out, an explosion rocks the battlefield with the force of a nuke, sending all three brothers sprawling. Ace's head snaps up and for the first time, he truly takes in the earthshattering clash of powers raging around them. Shanks and Kizaru are tearing at each other's throats across the battlefield. Whitebeard is assaulting Akainu with all the strength and world-shaking power of an ancient mountain giant, silhouetted in the burning corpse of the Moby Dick. Vista is dancing around a man with a huge, black sword and a fox mask – Ace realises with a thrill of terror that the Foxes have finally entered the battle. And that means Doflamingo, too.

The hairs on the back of Ace's neck raise. His moment of distraction cost him. Pulling himself to his feet, the revolutionary just manages to lurch out of the way of the business end of a bayonet; suddenly, it comes swinging back, aimed directly at Ace's throat. He throws himself back even as he knows that it's futile, bracing himself for the pain, already wondering what choking on your own blood feels like-

A yell rings out, juvenile and filled with terror, and a small body slams into the marine's gut. The bayonet just swings over Ace's head, knocked off course by his new defender, and Ace breathes heavily as he darts backwards, heart pounding in his chest, eyes wide with both shock and pure relief. He can still feel phantom pain in his neck. His eyes only widen further when he sees that the person who saved him is small, skinny Jake. The boy is panting hard, covered in sweat and ash, limbs trembling. He looks down at his fists as if he can barely believe what just happened, before his head snaps up to meet Ace's gaze.

The small teen seems to hesitate for a second, anxiety flitting across his face, before he yells, "Take care of your brothers!"

For a split second, Ace nods, understanding perfectly what Jake really means. "See you on the other side!"

Jake nods, eyes still wide, looking impossibly young. Then, the tide of fighters split the space between them and he's swallowed by the crowd. It sucks him into its churning riptide, out of Ace's sight. After a split-second, the eighteen-year old turns away, running over to Luffy and Sabo as gunfire rattles through his ears. "Alright, fuck all of this, let's g _o!_ "

Luffy nods and pushes off the balls of his feet, limbs sloppy and shaky, face determined. Ace and Sabo stick close to him, ready to catch him if he falls, and hope starts to flood Ace's chest as he sees just how close the _East Wind_ is. He can make out the figures of four or five people on deck, waiting for them, ready to offer rest, water, medical care – all of this and more for Sabo and Luffy, to make sure they live, to make sure that they don't end up dying simply for Ace's sake. It's a haven, and it's so close Ace feels that he could reach out and touch it. For the first time, he truly believes that they're _going to make it_.

Then, multiple things happen at once.

A hand reaches out and grabs Ace's ankle, a hand belonging to somebody lying on the ground. At first, when he looks down, his mind refuses to process it. The revolutionary freezes, letting go of Luffy's arm, fingers going slack. He feels his jaw drop, face melting into a mask of disbelief, and he can do nothing to stop it. Because that can't be Haruta lying there on the floor; it can't be Haruta in a pool of her own blood, with glassy eyes and a dark patch on her lightly-clothed back; it can't be _Haruta_ , mortally wounded, still staring up at Ace like he's the sun. Ace doesn't realise that his knees have given out until they hit the ground, pain shooting up his bruised spine from the movement. His hands find their way to Haruta's cheeks, cupping her face, a string of curses flowing from his mouth even as his voice breaks.

At the same time, a figure runs headlong past Ace, straight back towards the execution platform, only to trip over Haruta's prone form and go sprawling across the ice. Her tightly shaved head catches Ace's eye immediately even as he tries to soothe Haruta. She's little more than a jumble of bones and skin, no meat or muscle on her form, cheeks hollow and grotesque. Her dark skin looks slightly translucent, papery under the light of gunfire. And when she turns to Ace, something about her green eyes makes his stomach turn over inside him. It's _Haley._ One of those who went missing in the Squad 4 Incident. One of those who disappeared at the same time as Leo. She looks like hell, long black curls replaced by a scrappy crew cut, eyes sunken, teeth yellowed. Even slightly feral.

Her eyes widen and she scrambles to her feet, breathing heavily. "Crap," she mutters, the strange blades protruding from her fingers clinking together.

Ace tries to make a smart comment, but no words come out. After a single fragile second, she turns and darts away into the crowd, towards the heart of the battle. "Where are you going?!" he calls, voice small. She doesn't answer.

Haruta whimpers slightly in pain, fingers curling around her abdomen, face screwed up as she it turns towards Ace's chest. Ace shushes her, a harsh lump rising in his throat. Her eyes are growing more and more distant with every second. "No, no, no, no! Haruta, stay awake, just stay-"

She coughs and blood splatters across Ace's bare stomach, clumpy and hot against his skin. His words cut off. Vaguely, he realises that Sabo and Luffy are with them, Sabo brushing Haruta's hair away from her eyes, Luffy staring at nothing. He appears to be close to hyperventilating, breath forcing itself in and out of his lungs like a broken pump. Ace hears him mumble, "Just like in the dream…"

"You gotta-" Haruta coughs again, but this time, nothing comes up. It's almost as if there's not much left inside of her. "You gotta go… Marco said… Shanks…?"

"Shh, shh, don't try to talk," Sabo whispers, hands shaking. Ace can feel Haruta's blood on his fingers now. Tears sting his eyes, and he doesn't realise that he's sobbing until a choked sound of deep pain tears from his throat. His frame is slowly wracked by heaving, choking sobs as a creeping feeling of hopelessness rushes over him. He can do nothing. Haruta is slipping from his fingers right before him, and he can do _nothing_.

"…A-Ace?" Haruta asks in a broken voice, "Are you okay?"

Tears in his eyes and rolling off his chin, Ace shakes his head, heart clenching in his chest. He presses her closer to his chest, pulling her limp form to him and holding her until finally, what feels like a century later, the warmth starts to seep from it. The sluggish beating of her heart against Ace's chest slowly stutters to a halt. For a second, Ace continues to hold her, barely able to believe it. Every fibre of him wishes to turn back time, to not waste it on not saying what he needed to, to hold her for a moment more. But she slips from his arms like a rag doll, head cracking horribly onto the ice.

Sabo grabs Ace's shoulders and shakes them, hard. When Ace looks up, vision blurred, he can make out that his brother's face is stricken, tears making trails in the ash on his cheeks. Before he knows what's going on, he's being tugged to his feet. Everything is moving too fast. The world has cranked up the volume so loud that now all he can make out is the ringing in his ears.

"Come on, come on!" Sabo is pleading, but his voice is blurred in Ace's ears. In the back of his mind, he realises that Luffy is gripping his hand hard enough for his fingernails to make indents in his skin. After a second he nods, forcing the darkness out of his eyes, grimacing at the feeling of blood on his hands. Grief can come later. For now, they only have a little further to go.

As Sabo and Luffy run ahead, however, it happens. Once more, multiple things happen at once.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ace sees Akainu break away from his fight with Whitebeard as a new enemy – one with a strange blackness swirling rapidly around his form – takes his place. Akainu doesn't hesitate, a magma blur shooting across the ice, past the fighters and over bodies lying dead on the ice. And Ace can see what's going to happen before it does.

 _And like hell is he going to let that happen_.

Putting on a burst of speed, Ace throws himself in front of Sabo and Luffy's unprotected backs, smoke burning his eyes, the heat of the rapidly approaching magma on his skin so intense that it feels as if it's burning bone-deep. Sabo lets out a yell, dread and panic and fear exploding through the bond so forcefully that Ace's heart breaks a little. Luffy gasps raggedly, the world spins, somebody screams-

Ace closes his eyes.

* * *

 _Drip. Drip._

* * *

Luffy stares in horror, eyes wide and smarting as the smoke stings them. The ground is harsh and hot under his knees, morphing and melting like molten rock, and his skin blisters with the pure heat coming from Akainu. Above him, Ace coughs, throat rasping. Blood drips down his chin. Akainu's fist in his chest morphs and pulsates with light, tearing the young revolutionary open from the inside out. The fire-user's face is screwed up in pain, eyes tearing up, and Luffy's heart _aches_.

Akainu snorts with disgust, as if he's just stepped in something unpleasant, and pulls his fist from Ace's torso roughly. Luffy stares up at his older brother as he sways, teeth clenched against the pain that must be shooting through him horrifically. His mind refuses to comprehend this. Ace falls to his knees and onto Luffy, boneless, and Luffy can hear him choke on a yell of pain. Around them, the battlefield has gone horribly silent. Somewhere far away, Marco yells out in mingled horror and pain, caught up in his own battle but unable to miss what just happened.

His older brother's blood is hot on his fingers, and Luffy can feel himself shaking. Akainu is a mass of heat and light in front of him, over Ace's shoulder, and his fist is still raised. Ace's blood sizzles and evaporates from the molten rock as Luffy watches. He can feel the sob rising in his throat. _This is hell. This is hell_.

Akainu steps forwards once more, prepared to finish off yet another of the three brothers, but a nimble, tall figure intercepts him. "Room!" yells a voice, and Law unsheathes a rusty dagger with a snarl and lunges forward. He and Akainu clash, Gift against Gift, but Luffy can't pay attention. His ears are ringing. Ace's body is hot upon his own and when he looks down, he can see his red shirt spread with a darker shade of crimson.

"Luffy...?" Ace asks, voice shaking. He coughs, and something wet and warm splatters onto Luffy's shoulder. "Are y-you okay?"

The sob bursts from the fifteen-year old's throat now, before he can stop it. He clutches Ace tighter to him, as if he can keep his big brother alive so long as he keeps him pressed to him. This can't be happening, not now. The dream can't play out, not like this.

"A-Ace..." Luffy moves his hand up to go around Ace's shoulder, holding him so hard that he can feel warm blood sinking through his shirt. "Ace! No! No, no, no, no, no… This can't- The dream- you said you were going to be alright!" He chokes down a sob. " _Please_ say you're gonna be alright…!"

"I'm sorry... Luffy..." Ace whispers. His voice rasps with every word, small and filled with pure pain and sounding so different from the strong brother Luffy knows. He coughs again, and this time, there's no blood on Luffy's skin. The pirate wonders, as tears well up in his eyes and blur his vision, whether there's any blood left in Ace to cough up. And he remembers wondering it, time after time before, in dreams. Especially, he remembers just what comes next. He can see the blood spreading across the ground below them, tainting the grey cobblestone with deep scarlet.

A warm body collides with them, frantic, and another voice joins the mess that fills Luffy's head. Sabo presses his hands against Ace's wound, choking back tears, breathing so rapidly that he's close to hyperventilating. He's a soothing presence to Luffy, somebody who should be able to make him feel less terrified, but the only thing that seems to exist in Luffy's world at this moment is Ace. Ace and the blood on his hands.

"No, no, no- Ace!" Sabo frantically. One of his gloves hands wraps around Luffy's shoulders, warm and carrying a familiar smell, as if it's trying to anchor him to consciousness. Luffy doesn't think it's working. The edges of his vision swim with black. Ace's breathing is thinning against his shoulder.

"Dont-" Ace's body slumps a little. Luffy squeezes his eyes shut tight, teeth clenched against the waves of grief that throb through him, something wet and hot streaming down his face. "Don't be u-upset. I'll be able to tell Leo that- that J-Jake is okay." His voice gets weaker still. Sabo, t-shirt soaked with blood, is shaking with the force of his sobs.

"D-Don't talk like that! No!" Luffy's voice breaks. His knees weaken, and he, Ace and Sabo a little to the floor. His hand is buried deep in the gruesome concave of Ace's back, trying and failing to stop the bleeding when it probably won't do much now. "Please don't say that...!"

Ace takes a rasping, painful breath in. Against Luffy's shoulder, his jaw forms a grin. "I love you both, Luffy. And just think..." One last breath, and this time his voice is barely a choked whisper. "I'll be able to tell Haruta I'm…sorry..."

Ace slips forward, knees slick and wet with his own sweat and blood, and Luffy's arms are too weak to hold him up. Unceremoniously, with mundane finality that stabs through his little brother's chest like a bayonet, Portgas D. Ace hits the ground and doesn't draw another breath.

Luffy throws his head back and _screams_. Sabo falls back onto his haunches, face twisted and agonised and terrified, tears slipping down his face.

 _The dreams really did come true._

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 41, Jul 29:**

 ** _SON WHY  
*screeches as soon as Leo is mentiones because I mISS HIM ;A;*  
I was nearly worried that you didn't sleep to update this, but then I realised you're not even in the near 1am zone oops  
Update~_**

 **I miss leo too D: though, keep an eye out for him. maybe it's not the last you'll see of him.  
ahah, don't worry, I'm good! Taking on your advice and trying (** ** _trying_** **) to take care of myself. I hope it's working.  
I'll update soon :D thank you for the review! Ily!**

 **YJV, Chapter 41, Jul 29:**

 ** _Ahhh! FUCK! ACE GONNA DIE?! THAT'S IT, THEY HAVE TO STAY TOGETHER, DIE TOGETHER, IDC! -Breaks down crying - why must you be so mean?! Why must you do this to me, why?! I love you, but I also hate you QwQ_**

 **Well, I feel like this chapter answers your question…  
as for why I have to be so mean – the chapter has to be interesting, right? That's my goal!  
I love you too! Thank you for reviewing! I'll continue to be mean until the fic ends!**

 **Guest, Chapter 41, Jul 29:**

 ** _First of all happy birthday! I finally got time to read this and I'm feeling so many things right now.  
My poor Zoro I don't think I'll be able to get over that, he stabbed himself to avoid being controlled again, so brave and yes Sabo he was there for Luffy who must be hurting terribly.  
The battle is really well written and I liked Aokiji warning Luffy, I'm guessing it has to do with Blackbeard... Why is Blackbeard there anyway?  
I loved Ace's reaction to seeing Shanks his first father figure and also his concern for seems stronger is that because he's near Pidge?  
Yay, Ace is free now hopefully the 3 brothers reunite and kick ass together, I'm really looking foward to the next chapters *hugs*_**

 **Hey! Thanks for the happy birthday; I had a great one :)  
ah yeah, poor zoro, I feel so mean for killing him off! But in the end, it was necessary, I guess. And yes, lu certainly isn't doing great right now D:  
thank you so much, I'm glad you like the battle! And yep, aokiji is definitely an enigma. I love writing that gue…  
you'll find out why blackbeard is there, don't worry! for now, try to examine his motives.  
yes, Ace is free! Though, after this chap, im not sure if that's a good thing…  
thanks for the review, ily! Talk soon!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 41, Jul 29:**

 ** _-strangled sounds- My EmoTiOns Are EverYWheRe Why hese tHinGs WhY_**

 **AHAHA YOUR REVIEWS LEGIT GIVE ME LIFE I LOVE YOU**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 41, Jul 29:**

 ** _you..  
Mean KID. Onyourbdaytoooml_**

 **hey, making people cry was the perfect birthday present! Sorta  
love you, ty**


	43. 3-12 - The Path to the Sun

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **LONG LONG LONG chap for you folks today! I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 43 – The Path to the Sun**

* * *

For an indefinite amount of time, he falls through space, a puppet with no strings to hold him up. When he does hit the ground, it doesn't register. His every cell is loose and fluid, and his senses seem faraway and muted. After a while, he realises that he can hear a distant, distorted rumbling. He doesn't move. It doesn't even feel as though he has a body to do so.

Suddenly, sound, extraordinarily close.

 _"Luffy?"_

A beat of silence.

 _"Oi, Luffy, come on. Luffy. Don't make me hit you."_

The next voice that speaks is higher and younger, slurred with sleep but still just as close. It's vaguely familiar.

" _Ace? Where are we? What happened to your face?"_

A shifting sound. _"My face? What about it?"_

The second boy giggles, and the sound emanates warmth. _"You're all purple 'n stuff. Like an eggplant."_

Ace's eyes snap open and he sits up, bracing his hands on the floor beneath him. For a second, light floods his eyes and he can barely see. As it fades he blinks rapidly, mind a jumble of sounds and memories.

The world around him is completely and utterly white. The only splashes of colour are the two small figures huddled together on the ground a few feet in front of Ace – one with dark hair and freckles, the other with brown eyes and puppy fat lining his young cheeks. Ace identifies the memory immediately – it's the morning after the siege started. After Luffy was shot, what feels like a thousand years ago. It's he and his brother, tucked against each other on the ground, scared and hurt and looking far younger than Ace had ever imagined them.

Luffy's head is in young-Ace's lap now, and he's shaking violently. His brown eyes are blown wide. Ace remembers this too. His voice is hollow and terrified as he whispers, _"Something exploded. Ace,_ _ **hurts**_ _."_

Young-Ace looks up and meets his older counterpart's eyes just as the memory is whisked away like the wind, and Ace draws a ragged breath as he's left alone in the unsettling whiteness. The rumbling fades, and the silence and stillness press in with such force that when Ace's yell escapes from his throat, it sounds loud enough to shatter the world around him to pieces.

"Hello? Where am I?! What is this?!" He tries to run forwards, to find a wall to slam his hands down on, but there's only an endless white landscape.

After god knows how long, however, a muffled voice echoes from the emptiness.

 _"Look, if it helps, my name's Sabo._ " A heartbeat, long enough for Ace to draw a panicked breath. _"Now can I ask for yours?"_

Ace takes off in the direction of the sound with anxiety nipping at his heels, because he recognises that voice too. It's Sabo when they first met. Ace's mind scrambles for an explanation but not one arises. His memory is a mess, unable to grasp onto any implication of how he got here, and the thick sensation of disorientation floods his stomach.

Another voice joins now, and then another. Soon they begin to overlap, faster and faster and more and more distorted, until Ace has to clap his hands over his ears just to block them out.

Himself. _"Oh my god, you're impossible_."

Sabo. _"I've been alone for a long time, and brothers… Brothers sound like the complete opposite of that."_

Luffy's giggle.

Sabo again. _"I came from the west. And I was really, really lucky to get out._ "

Ace stops running, hands still clapped over his ears, a yell escaping from his throat as the noises around him get louder and louder. Around him, the world stays an impenetrable white, pressing in on the young revolutionary until he falls to his knees, breath rasping, almost drowned out by the voices.

They grow louder.

 _"You can't fight if you're dead on your feet either."_

 _"Ace?! Is that you?!"_

 _"She didn't make it."_

 _"'Firecracker'?"_

 _"Our little brother stabbed himself."_

 _"See ya, dad!"_

Images flash through Ace's mind without his permission, memory after memory, for what feels like hours. He bites his lip, hoping the pain will block them out, tasting copper as it fills his mouth. He's so familiar with the taste that it does nothing to distract him now. He scrunches his eyes shut against the white, a low whine escaping his throat. The voices grow louder still.

 _"Oh yeah , Ace, I'll wait for my goddamn hands to burn off so you can talk!"_

 _"I don't take bottle caps as payment, kid, so scram."_

 _"Look, I'm just like Ace and Sabo!"_

 _"The navy – Sabo, they got him!"_

 _"We'll find him. If there's even a tiny chance that our kid brother is alive then we have to protect him, okay? We will. That's what brothers are for."_

 _"I'll miss you."_

 _"I'll miss you, too."_

 _"Stronger, and stronger, and stronger than that."_

 _"Goodbye older brother, hello trailblazer."_

Ace screams now, forehead pressed against the ground, the voices so incredibly loud that his ears start ringing. It _hurts_. And it doesn't seem like it's ending any time soon.

 _"If you're in public and you're running around yelling my name, you're going to look like a bit of an idiot. I'm in your head."_

 _"Hey, I guess we really are going out into the world together. Just sort of… not."_

 _"Loguetown?"_

 _"Run right now, or you're going to die."_

 _"Something is coming to this island. Something bad."_

 _"Ace! No, no, no, Ace!"_

 _"You nearly got blown up and you're worrying about me being tired?"_

 _"I missed you. You seemed really lonely."_

 _"How about… Pidge?"_

 _"I don't have anything else. Unless you're thinking of taking some stupid little bird."_

 _"Wondering what that old house is?"_

 _"Your accent… Your accent, and your complete lack of understanding about what's going on here."_

 _"Surprise."_

The voices speed up, pulling Ace through his memories at a chaotic pace, and the hands over his ears do nothing to stop them. Soon, he finds himself curled up on the ground, knees pulled up to his chin, jaw clenched ad his mind is pulled to breaking point. It feels as though he's going insane.

 _"I told you I wouldn't die."_

 _"I feel your hunger. I feel the ache in your muscles and the bomb right beneath your skin that's been there since Loguetown. Every time some awful shit happens to you, shit you don't deserve, I feel you shove it down so forcefully you feel like you're going to break."_

 _"Hey, Sabo, I think I've found it!"_

 _"Maaah, sorry about that! I didn't realise that you were new. I'm Thatch!"_

 _"Why do you want to become a revolutionary, Ace, yoi?"_

 _"So how's the new kid?"_

 _"When we have kids asking to join a war to get back their families, half-starved kids who had their homes blown up and their brothers killed. What the hell did Ace even do to deserve that, yoi?"_

 _"You're not the only one who gets nightmares."_

 _"The poor baby doesn't know what fries are!"_

 _"Ow."_

 _"Get a doctor, will you?"_

 _"Nah, gotta train."_

 _"I'm Leo."_

Ace's heart clenches tightly and now, more than ever, he prays for the memories to end. He can't listen to this any longer.

 _"East?"_

 _"Yep. You?"_

 _"Same."_

 _"It was nice meeting you. Reckon we can spar again sometime?"_

 _"Around here, people call me Whitebeard."_

 _"Welcome to the family!"_

 _"Was it good that I survived?"_

 _"You're free, a child of the sea. It doesn't matter if anybody thinks you shouldn't have lived- all that matters is that you have a family who knows that you should have."_

 _"Leo?"_

 _"Hey, Ace."_

 _"I'd like to congratulate Jackson Leo for earning his place as second division commander…And Portgas D. Ace for earning the position of vice second division commander!"_

 _"Congratulations!"_

 _"Congratulations!"_

 _"You're that boy from Loguetown, you saved me! It's you!"_

 _"Haruta…"_

 _"Where are you taking me?"_

 _"Home."_

 _"He's immature and, honestly, quite a nuisance, yoi."_

 _"Shanks?!"_

 _"Ace!"_

 _"I've lost one son. I really don't want to lose another, Ace."_

Ace curls in on himself tighter, a whimper escaping his throat. He would do anything to see Shanks' face right now, an interruption to the blankness of his surroundings.

 _"Soon, when we find Luffy, me and my brothers'll be together. And we can see you then, right?"_

 _"We've had news on Squad 4."_

 _"Marco, just tell me- are they alive? Is Leo alive?!"_

 _"They're… MIA, yoi."_

 _"You're worried about something."_

 _"Of course I'm not."_

Head throbbing, Ace gives up fighting and lets himself go weak. One way or another, the memories are bound to end soon. They have to come to an end.

 ** _"Sabo_** **."**

 _"Let's get him to the infirmary!"_

 _"Ace? Ace, can you hear me?"_

 _"It was the name 'Sabo' he was saying, I'm sure of it, yoi."_

 _"It's been four days!"_

 _"You can't let sympathy cloud your judgement!"_

 _"This is incredible, isn't it, Sabo?!"_

A pause, sudden silence, before a voice creeps back in.

 _"Goodbye older brother, hello trailblazer-"_

The voices cease, so abruptly that Ace flinches, and he's left sprawled out on the ground. For a few seconds he doesn't move, letting the silence wash over him as he breathes heavily and tries to drain the panic from his system. It all begins to rush back now, cramming into his aching mind. Garp's betrayal. Capture. The Foxes. Marineford. Brothers. Jake. Battle. Magma.

Death.

Wincing, Ace begins to pull himself to his feet, but is stopped by the feeling of a hand landing on his shoulder. Nerves raw, he springs to his feet and scrambles away from the touch, whirling around with wide eyes and taking in just who has joined him-

His jaw drops.

"What the fu- _You_ \- but I'm… A-And you're…!" Ace swallows around the lump in his throat, steps forward and asks, "What the fuck is going on?!"

Jackson Leo raises an eyebrow and says dryly, "Good to see you too."

He looks exactly like he did when Ace knew him – black hair cut into a shitty mullet, pale skin, grey eyes, a leather-collared jacket and red beads around his throat. His arms are crossed over his chest and even now, two years closer to Ace's age, he towers over the freckled-teen easily. There's a crooked smile on his face, but it seems sad.

Before Ace can consider what he's doing, he's darted forwards and yanked his old friend into a short hug. He pulls back before Leo can reciprocate the gesture, face burning, and looks away pointedly. "So you're dead. And now, so am I."

"Yeah, it's festive." Leo chuckles humourlessly, a hand moving to the back of his neck, before he sighs. "Nah. Not quite. I mean, I'm dead, but you're not quite there yet."

"Not quite there? What do you mean?" Hope sparks in Ace's chest.

"We're inside your head. Your dad was meant to be here to explain it all, but in the end I came. You might have tried to kill him. Can't risk you murdering a dead guy."

"You know my dad?! Wait, of course you do, the whole dead thing," Ace backtracks. "This is fucking with my head."

Leo snorts. "It's been two years and it's still fucking with mine." Silence fills the air for a minute or so, tense and awkward.

"So you and Squad 4 died, then? All of you?" Ace says softly.

"Thankfully not, no." Leo tucks his hands into his pockets. "You saw Haley just now, and Scarlet got out. Pudding was the one who stabbed us in the back. Bepo and Kidd got taken by the marines, but they're out now. Muts, sure, but out. They travelled to Marineford with your brother, actually."

Ace raises his eyebrows. "Luffy?"

"No, the blonde one. Sabo."

Puffing a breath out between his teeth, Ace glances around. Still, there's nothing but white. "Sorry, this is just… A lot to take in."

"Yeah, you can say that again," Leo sighs, before turning to look around himself. "Why don't you spice this place up?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is your mind, isn't it, cousin?" Leo makes a point of knocking his temple with his knuckles, a small smile on his face.

Ace closes his eyes, feeling around in his brain for something he can't define, and when he opens them again, he and Leo are standing in their shared room at revolutionary HQ. It looks exactly the same as it did the day Ace left, with a cardboard box at the foot of Leo's bed and sunlight streaming through the window. Pidge, as small as he was when Ace first got him, sleeps on the windowsill. A soothing, sepia light fills the room. The familiar smell of Thatch's cooking wafts through the window.

Leo glances around approvingly, before strolling over to his bunk and plopping down, close to the cardboard box. Ace sits on the other end of the bed, legs crossed. He can feel the beads pressing against his leg. He's wearing the clothes he went to his execution in, but they're clean of dirt and blood, and no wounds mar his skin.

"Alright," Leo says calmly, "I guess you've got questions?"

Ace doesn't even have to think about his question before he asks it. "What does the number 49 mean? Because that number has followed me around for _years_ now, and the Foxes kept talking about it, and apparently it has something to do with my father and-" Ace shoots his friend a pleading look. "What does it all mean?"

"That's… A really hard question to answer." Leo takes a deep breath, before saying, "Alright. I guess I'll start at the beginning.

"About four hundred years ago, things were a lot different. The World Government wasn't a thing, and Gift-users ruled the world, and they were treated a lot better than normal people. Every time one was born, they were given a number. And that number became like a new name – it was a signature, a signal, a sign of power and a legacy all in one. If you were a Gift-user, it was everything to you.

"So all that time ago, there was a kid born called Gol D. Roger. He was born into a poor family, but that all started to look up when he was named the 49th Gift-user alive at the time. The number 49 became everything to him. He managed to make enough money to keep his family alive even though it took more than a decade for him to unlock his power, and his new status made it possible for him to take care of his many younger siblings. Life was good for him."

"And it all went to hell?" Ace guesses.

"Bingo," Leo replies in a dull voice. "The revolution came, but not the one we know. This one was led by non-Gift-users who wanted to overthrow the Gifted and create a new world order, a world where all were treated as equals. But it had a dark side. This rebellion wasn't afraid to do disgusting things to get what they wanted. When Roger was seventeen, they killed his entire family to try to subdue him."

Ace hisses in a sympathetic breath between his teeth. He could only imagine what it would feel like to lose that many younger siblings, and most likely a mother and father, too. Maybe the revolutionaries of long ago had a decent aim, but they hardly had moral standards.

"So with no family and the greatest war of all time breaking out around him, Roger and his best friend – who was also a Gift-user – went into hiding. The Gift Regime fell and the revolutionaries took over, calling themselves the World Government. But they were paranoid, I guess, or just assholes, 'cause they created the law that condemned the possession of a Gift as punishable by death. Things started to become what they are now; Gift-users went into hiding, the World Government slowly lost sight of what they fought for in the first place, and Roger and Rayleigh barely managed to keep surviving."

"That's… That's fucking with my head, sure, but what does it have to do with me? What do I have to do with Roger?"

Leo folds his hands in his lap, looking distinctly frustrated. "I'm just telling you everything he told me, okay? And it's confusing as shit, but it's important, I swear."

"Alright, alright. Okay." Ace closes his eyes for a second, phantom pain flaring in his chest. "Okay."

"Okay," Leo repeats. "Basically, Roger's Gift was the ability to see the future, and his friend Rayleigh's Gift gave him the ability to grant eternal youth to himself and others – though it was limited, of course. It didn't make them immortal, but it kept them young, and Roger's Gift let them get away from marines before they even reached them. They were on the run for centuries, and the World Government did everything they could to cover up their existence."

"Because they were the last pieces of evidence of how things used to be?"

"Yep, you got it. But here's the thing-" Leo leans forwards, long frame bending, hair falling into his eyes just like it always used to. "When I say 'Roger's power let him see into the future', I mean it _really_ let him see into the future. When he was twelve, he knew who was going to take over the east in four-hundred years' time. When he was fifteen, he knew the name of his future son. He could see the entire timeline perfectly."

"Then, how did he die? Shouldn't that have made him immortal?" Ace asks, leaning forwards in return, brows furrowed.

"It should have, but we're not taking into account one thing – the Butterfly Effect. Roger predicted from the very start that two important things would happen, cementing the course of the timeline forever. The first was that Whitebeard would have one biological son. And he didn't. He had two. And that was the flaw in the timeline that started to make all of Roger's predictions fly off at a tangent."

"Wait, Oyaji has two sons?"

Leo snorts. "You're not gonna believe me…" he mutters with a laugh in his voice. "It's insane."

"Who are they?!"

"Marco and Red-Haired Shanks, if you'll take my word for it," Leo chortles, before bursting out laughing at the shock that erupts over his friend's face.

"No way. No way, that can't be- Okay, well, Marco I get…but _Shanks_?! Marco and Shanks are brothers?!" Horror dawns on Ace's face, and Leo only laughs harder when he asks, "Does that mean that Oyaji is Luffy's grandfather?!"

"That makes you his _uncle_ , holy crap," Leo manages to choke out through his laughter, and soon Ace finds that he's laughing too. Once their laughter has died down, Ace swipes tears of mirth from his eyes with a wide grin.

"Still, I can't believe that Marco and Shanks are actually _brothers_. That's the best thing I've ever heard." Ace tilts his head to the side, a smile still on his lips. "Which one's older?"

"Take a guess."

"…Shanks?"

"Nope!"

"So Marco's the eldest, then?"

"Wrong again."

Ace's eyes practically bulge out of his skull. "They're _twins?!_ "

Leo snickers. "Yeah. Don't worry, it freaked me out too when I first heard it. It's just hard to imagine them even being friends, huh?"

"You can say that again." Ace sighs and leans back, face sobering. "Okay, so if Whitebeard was only meant to have one of them, who's the problem child?"

"Shanks. It fits, I guess," Leo shrugs. "Marco was meant to be Oyaji's only child, and grow up to be a dedicated, hardworking revolutionary who would be all set to take over from his dad. But Shanks was born, and that messed it all up. From the very beginning, danger and death followed him everywhere, because he just _wasn't supposed to exist_ , you know? The universe tried to kill him over and over – he was in a bunch of accidents, he nearly died over and over, his mother and best friend had both died by the time he was ten. He was a rebellious kid, and not in the way that Whitebeard liked. He grew up able to see the darker side of the Revolutionary Army, and unlike Marco, he pushed to get away from it."

"The… darker side?" Ace shifts uncomfortably.

"Trust me, the Revolutionary Army is great. I love you guys." Leo lowers his voice. "But nothing is perfect, including what Oyaji's built. Did you never wonder what they're really keeping in the quarantined zone? Or why they didn't search too hard for me when I 'disappeared', even though I was a commander? Or why they lied to you about the squad's fate? Or why they _really_ came to your execution?"

Ace squirms, tucking his legs closer to himself and looking down. Anxiety churns briefly in his throat. Could the rebels really have other reasons for wanting to save him? Do they truly not care about him as much as he'd thought?

Leo sighs, reaching across to flick Ace's arm lightly. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry. The revs are great, and the cause they're fighting for is a hell of a lot more morally sound than the first revolutionaries. But nothing's perfect. Everything's grey if you look at it close enough."

Ace chuckles weakly, glancing up with a glint of playfulness in his eyes, and says, "You sound like you're quoting a wannabe-badass. Or just being a wannabe-badass."

"It doesn't make it any less true," murmurs Leo emphatically. After a second he coughs, clicking his fingers and knuckles as he leans back. "Anyway, I should get on with it. We don't have forever.

"So Shanks pushed and pushed, and eventually he managed to get away from the revolutionaries, leaving his father and brother on… really bad terms. He was about seventeen when he met a man called Roger. By that point, Rayleigh had been captured by the World Government, and Roger was growing sick. He wasn't going to live for another five years, if that. Shanks stayed with him for a while, letting himself be adopted by another father, and he and Roger grew close. Roger had always hated 'revolutionaries', whether old or new-age, mostly 'cause of what the old ones did to his family. He and Shanks bonded over fucking off the rebellion, mostly. And when Roger was too sick to carry on, he left behind an adoptive son and a pregnant lover and handed himself in, letting himself be executed and leaving behind one last prediction."

"What? What was it?!"

Leo draws in a heavy breath. "He said that his sons would bring the world to its knees, and that they would use fire, the most destructive element, to restore the void century. Nine months later, his lover gave birth to a kid called… called Ace."

Ace's head snaps up and for a second, he doesn't register the words. When they do register, he lets his head drop again, biting his lip. 49. His _sons_ , plural, Sabo and Luffy. It makes sense, even though he doesn't want it to.

"Alright," he says softly after a few seconds, "Next question. Why do me and Sabo have the same mark?" Now, there's no humour in his voice.

Leo leans back, putting his hands behind his head, long legs brushing Ace's. "That brings me right onto the next bit of the story. When you were born, one part of Roger's prediction was still going strong – you and Sabo were the ones he called 'his sons', and fate threw you together when you were only a few days old, actually. Context time. Your mother, Rogue, grew up in the south as a maid in the house of a Hyumangoddo. She heard a lot of bad stuff growing up, went through a lot of it too. And she lost her brother when she was twelve because he was Gifted. From that moment on, she was always terrified that she was going to lose somebody she cared about 'cause they had a Gift. She lost Roger, too, and a few months later, her son was born with a mark as clear as day."

"What did she do?"

"She tried everything she could to get rid of it. Got close to drowning you in a well at some point, too." Leo grimaces but ploughs on. "Eventually, she found a ritual she thought would work. It could apparently get rid of both a Mark and its powers, and all it needed was another child - one born at around the same time, of the same gender and blood-type. And it just so happened that she had access to a kid just like that – your brother, Sabo, who was the son of one of her close friends. A man called Dragon."

"The ritual didn't work?"

"Nope, not at all. Rogue, you and Sabo all disappeared into obscurity, and Sabo's father never saw his son again. The ritual messed up; Sabo gained your mark, and Rogue left him where she carried out the ritual – an island in the west – while she took you to the east. Sabo's parents weren't there to stop her, 'cause his mom died giving birth to him and his dad was in the north... Or, at least, that's what I think he said. Anyway - she travelled East, to a group of bandits her father knew. The journey was incredibly toiling on her body, and along with the injuries she gained with the ritual…"

"She died the night she dropped me off there," Ace finishes softly. "I know."

Silence fills the room for a second. The smell of Thatch's cooking no longer feels comforting – it chokes Ace, filling his throat like poison.

Leo heaves a sigh and says, "So the timeline. Well, Shanks was always the thing that was never meant to exist, so when Luffy was born, the same applied to him. Remember all the shit he's gotten into? How many times has he nearly died, or had the worst luck in the world?"

"More than I can count," Ace snorts.

"Well, that's what happens when you take Shanks' disaster childhood and times it by two. It was always meant to be just you and Sabo, angry at the world and ready to burn it down together. That's the way it was predicted since four-hundred years ago. But Luffy, who was never meant to be born, smashed that. It if wasn't for him, you two would have grown up with only one another, fiercely protective, attached at the hip and angry at the entire world. And you would have burned down the World Government without breaking a sweat. I mean, you're both still incredibly strong - did you see Sabo break the fourth wall in the last chapter? – but not that psychotic. You could have turned out a lot different."

"But Luffy changed that," Ace breathes, "Of course he did. It's hard to be angry with him around. Hell – it's hard not to smile with him around!"

"Got it," Leo says with a crooked smile, before his face hardens. "Alright, now that that's all out of the way… the real reason we're here. You knew this bit was coming."

"I did," Ace admits. "You said I wasn't quite dead yet – does that mean… does that mean I can go back, maybe? Can I go back to Luffy and Sabo, now that I know the truth?"

"If you want a short answer – yes, yes you can. But there are conditions. And let me tell you, they do _not_ fuck around with the conditions." Leo stands from the bed, arms crossed, and moves towards the door. "Behind this door is consciousness. You go through it, you wake up on the battlefield. But in exchange, your heart never beats again. The only way this is possible is because of the link between you and Sabo – he lived through you in Stormy Down, so now you can live through him. When he dies, so do you."

"I can live with that. What else?"

"You wake up in the middle of a battlefield, upon which-" Leo screws his face up for a second. "Dragon is betraying AANGEL because he was duped by the Foxes, Doflamingo is tearing the revolutionaries apart, Whitebeard is being hammered by Blackbeard and both of your brothers are breaking down over your corpse."

"Not the best, but it it's what it takes, then sure."

"Alright, just one last thing." Leo's voice softens. "When you die for real sometime in the future, that's it. You've met me, you've come here, you're close to coming away with me. Up there, you know?" He points to the ceiling. "You can't do that twice. When you die, there's only one place left to go."

"Down?" Ace guesses.

"Aye," replies Leo grimly. "So, your decision?"

Ace stands, ears ringing faintly, head still aching from all he's learnt. He flashes Leo a small grin. "I don't even need to think about it."

Leo smirks, moving past Ace to stand behind him. "That's the Ace I remember."

Still smiling, Ace turns towards the portal out of here. His fists clench at his sides as he sets his jaw, ready to throw himself back into the battle, hoping to god that it isn't too late. If the universe was always trying to kill Luffy, he won't let it succeed – and like hell is it getting to Sabo, who is apparently the one who was meant to be with him the whole time. He needs to do this.

"Ace?" Leo calls suddenly, voice sounding unsure for the first time. "One more thing."

"What is it?" Ace turns his body away from the door for a second, taking in the unease in Leo's deep grey eyes.

"I…I want you to remember something, okay?" Leo takes a step forwards, reaching out to mess with Ace's hair roughly. "There are gonna be a lot of people who tell you the same thing – 'find a cause and fight for it' and all that jazz. And it seems like great advice. But it's just like I told you before – everything is grey when you examine it thoroughly enough. Everything's ugly up close. If you find a cause and give it everything you have-" Leo's face grows pained. "It just changes you into something you're not. And I don't want that to happen to you."

He takes another step forwards, black hair tickling his eyes. "Do me a favour, Ace, and find _people_ to fight for. Give them everything you have. Save your brothers and live for them, okay?" Leo's expression is hollow and sad, and for a second, Ace aches at the thought of leaving him here. This is it. There's nothing more. Without a doubt, this is going to be the last time they see one another.

"Okay." Ace turns resolutely back towards the portal, fire burning in his throat, and nods around the stinging in his eyes. A grin stretches his lips, wide and sincere and free. He yells over his shoulder, "I'll take care of Jake for you!"

"I owe you one, brother!" comes Leo's shout in reply, before Ace opens the door and throws himself through it. Wind swirling around him in a suffocating vortex, he throws his head back and falls, sinking into a grey world the same colour as Leo's eyes.

* * *

 **So yeah this chapter was a clusterfUCK**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 42, Aug 4:**

 ** _Poor Luffy so confuse on how many people know Ace  
Did- did Sabo just break the fourth wall ._.  
I am slowly starting to bw more afraid of the masks XD  
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be screeching bECAUS Update~_**

 **Hey!  
the plot of strays: everybody knows ace  
yep, sabo broke the fourth wall and I love him. leo admires that too apparent lmao  
yeah, you should be…  
GOOD. YES. SCREECH.**

 **YJV, Chapter 42, Aug 4:**

 ** _-screams- WHY?! SHIT'S GONNA GET REAL! What if the prophecy?! What's gonna happen now?! Omg, this story will be the death of me!_**

 **YEAH SHIT'S REALLY GOING DOWN NOW WHOOOP  
so many questions! Read on, pal, and find out!**

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 42, 22h ago:**

 ** _Omg why did you have to kill both Ace and Zoro. Those are two of my favorite One Piece characters.._**

 **Don't worry, not all hope is lost yet!  
thanks for reviewing, ily**

 **Guest, Chapter 42, 18h ago:**

 ** _Nooo Ace died!_**

 **I know, poor kid… but still, he'll be okay! I hope**

 **Guest, Chapter 42, 14h ago:**

 ** _Nooooooo, first Zoro and now Ace, why, why did it have to be my faves who die? Poor Luffy and Sabo, having their brother die just in front of them and not being able to avoid it.  
I loved Marco's reaction, it was just so right but it has me wandering what Sabo meant when he said he cared little for Ace...  
I enjoyed the part where Nami takes care of that marine and Ace recognises her but can't place her, Nami is now the only survivor from the Loguetown massacre  
I really want to know what happens next and I hope the revs win but for me it won't be the same without Ace. *hugs*_**

 **Did I tell you that I love long reviews? Cause I do  
sorry that your faves died! And yeah, I feel so bad for them. The author's mean as shit…  
don't worry, you'll find out soon enough what sabo meant!  
oh shit yeah she is! I hadn't realised that, actually. Fuck. I made myself sad  
thanks for reviewing! ily!**

 **Ella, Chapter 42, 9h ago:**

 ** _-"Wait - you know Ace too?!" Luffy pouts, turning to Sabo. "Like half of my crew know Ace! How does that even happen?!"  
"You'd swear the author has a thing for reunions," Sabo mutters under his breath,-  
I see that fourth wall breaking. Lol  
But damn, you really like messing with your readers emotions, don't you? This story is really good but so tragic.  
Ace's death will never get any easier for me but somehow I think you made this even sadder then his actual death in the manga. Thanks for breaking my heart like that._**

 **Ahaha, yep! Sabo's definitely awesome enough to be able to break the fourth wall. I have no regrets abt making him call me out on that  
yep, I love messing with emotions! That's what I'm here for, my friend  
oh gosh, I did? Wow! That's probably one of the best things I've heard about my writing in a while, thank you so much! Sorry for making you sad, ily**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 42, 7h ago:**

 ** _..._**

 **Ty…ily**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 42, 6h ago:**

 ** _no thank you i appreciate the thought but how bout no death kay thanks this isn't alright i'm not okay this isn't okay nothing is okay i thought i had no more emotions to feel and then this tho i knew it was coming but at the same time i wAs LikE maYbE nAw buT tHen ThIs ThEY whErE hAPpy aNd bAcK anD nOw hE's dEad anD So aM i  
(P.S. Is there any way I can follow and favorite this harder? Like, is there a 'Mega Favorite' button I can press?)_**

 **that mess of emotion is prob one of the best things I've ever read, thank you for sending me that ily  
and wow, thank youuu so much! It means a lot that you want to! And idk, maybe we should request one lmao  
thank you so much for reviewing, ilysm!**


	44. 3-13 - Kill it With Fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **enjoy! God, this fic really is close to finishing…scary…**

* * *

 **Chapter 44 - Kill it With Fire**

* * *

When Ace wakes up, it takes all of his self-control not to open his eyes. Noise swarms in from all directions in a split-second, momentarily stunning him, and he has to force himself not to jolt. Sensations break on his body from all directions - lights flash behind his eyelids, the noise of battle explodes on his eardrums, he can feel blood and concrete stiff against his fingers. More than anything, he feels immediately cold. His fingers feel so frozen that they're stinging. His legs are numb, and it feels like there's a hollow in his chest where the warmth should be. A hollow where his _heart_ should be.

His pulse rushes in his ears, but Ace can tell instinctively that the heartbeat that drives it isn't his own. It's frantic with hysteria, fluttering like a snare drum in his throat, choking him with a pure wave of unadulterated terror. _Sabo_. Wherever Sabo is right now, whatever he's doing, his utterly terrified. Ace can feel his brother's heart breaking, and has to force his body to stay motionless.

A scream rings out from Ace's right, then a sickening crunch, and then silence. Ace feels his face start to contort into a grimace but forces it to still, feeling air brush over his tense eyelids. He can feel the smile he died with on his face and struggles to keep it there, still acutely aware of the racing of Sabo's heart. He does everything in his power to control his body completely, dreading the simple movement of an eye or a finger twitching. Ace knows that it isn't the case, but he swears he can feel millions of eyes on him.

A horrifying thought suddenly grows in his mind; he was stabbed through the chest, his organs were incinerated. Could he truly be lying here, most of his blood and major organs burned out, a hole right through his middle? The area around his chest feels completely numb, void of any type of sensation, like an infection of frostbite spreading from his lungs. How the hell is he even supposed to move with a wound like that in his chest, if it's really still there?

Heart still thrumming wildly, Ace decides in a split-second to take a risk. Fingers shaking, bracing himself for shouts and blows, he lets his right hand slip up his torso and onto his chest, feeling blood slick and sticky on his fingertips. Slowly, muscles screaming with tension, he feels his way across his skin until he reaches the wound. The jagged, horrific hole is burning hot beneath Ace's fingers, a dramatic contrast to the coldness of the rest of his body. The flesh beneath Ace's hand is so badly mutilated that his fingers sink into it and his throat convulses at the feeling, vomit rising up into his mouth. The shaking of his hand intensifies.

A familiar voice suddenly yells out from not too far away and Ace let's his hand fall back to his side, staying perfectly still, barely breathing. A second of silence, and then a low voice says, "Let me past. Now."

"Like hell!" Sabo's voice replies furiously. His throat sounds raw, and there's a sob in his voice, but he masks it with anger. Ace can't hear Luffy.

Then, a yell of pain shoots across the battlefield and Sabo's voice cuts off. A second later, there's a sharp thump. Ace's throat clenches as he feels the heartbeat in his chest weaken, slowing from the frantic _thump-thump-thump_ it was before. Sabo, who appeared to be guarding his body, is unconscious. Now he's alone.

Somebody rests an icy cold hand on Ace's shoulder and he tenses slightly, begging his body to stay still, terror gripping his heart. There's another thump, far closer now, as something next to Ace hits the ground hard. Then, a voice close to Ace's ear mutters, "Don't move."

Suddenly, a terrible coldness pierces Ace's lower stomach like a knife and he can't stop the yell of pain that rips from his throat. Seconds later, a hand closes over his mouth. Ace can feel his face screwing up with pain, body jerking and writhing as the coldness overtakes the heat of the magma and spreads through his torso, throbbing and stinging like thousands of needles. It's the worst pain he's ever felt - worse than Loguetown, worse than losing Sabo, worse than being stabbed and shot and punched through the chest. The pain strips at his consciousness and for a second he blacks out.

When he wakes again, the cold has spread from his lower stomach to his chest, a mass of ice that floods his veins and seeps into every pore like fire. Mouth still covered, Ace throws his head back, every muscle clenched, legs kicking out and scraping the ground. Nothing compares to this. It's never going to end. He can feel the scream growing in his throat, but the hand over his mouth is firm and unyeilding, and no sound emerges. The battle surrounding them rages on, and nobody comes to stop this torment - nobody arrives to save him from this pain.

After an eternity, the ice finally stops spreading and the pain slows, dimming to a dull ache. It feels like heaven compared to how it was before. Ace breathes heavily, throat ragged with screams, and spits out a syrupy mouthful of blood. Slowly, face loosening after the tension that filled it before, Ace opens his eyes.

The figure standing over him is indistinct and blurry for a few seconds before Ace's vision focuses. When it does, he scrambles backwards with a yelp, hands slipping on the rough, bloody ground. His black hair hangs into his eyes, filled with dirt and blood, but the face of the man over him is perfectly clear.

"I can tell you're a little alarmed," Aokiji says coolly.

"No shit," Ace breaths out in reply, a hand coming up to clench his chest. When his fingers make contact with solid ice instead of torn flesh, however, he does a double take, both hands clutching at the hole in his chest; or, rather, what was once a hole. Because now, it's filled in with a thick disc of ice, no longer bleeding. It's as if a circle of his torso has been frozen perfectly solid. Breath rushes in and out of Ace's nose, but he can tell that it isn't exactly his - once again, a fundamental part of him is living through Sabo.

Aokiji considers Ace for a second, tall form silhouetted against the smoke filling the sky, before saying, "I don't know how you managed to stay alive, kid, but that ice should keep you that way. Tell Whitebeard that I've paid off my dept, alright?"

Ace nods dumbly, mouth still open, and Aokiji turns away without a word. The young revolutionary watches his back as he melts into the crowd, pushing between two marines and out of sight. For a split second, Ace lets himself breath, still clutching at his freezing cold chest. Then, reality rushes in like a tsunami.

Luffy is lying on his side a few feet away, head tucked against his chin, facing away from him. Ash and raw skin coat him, and when Ace rolls him over with trembling fingers, he makes sure to be as gentle as possible. For a few seconds, the younger teen is unresponsive and limp. Then, to Ace's utter relief, he chokes out a small cough and curls up tighter, eyes squeezed shut. There are visible tear tracks on his face, breaking through the grime that covers him like war paint.

"Luffy?" Ace murmurs softly, "Lu, come on. You have to get up now, okay?" His face crumples as a wave of grief suddenly washes over him. "It's just a little further."

As Ace brushes Luffy's hair away from his face, other hand trailing along the bandages on his face, the young pirate squirms slightly before his eyes slip open. For a moment he stares at Ace uncomprehendingly, eyes glassy and half-lidded. Then, at the exact same moment as Sabo, he seems to realise just who he's staring at.

Ace can see Luffy trying to throw himself at him, trying to hug him until his ribs break, but he can also see that the kid is too weak for that now. To make up for it - or maybe just because he needs to make sure Luffy really is still alive and real - Ace leans down and pulls Luffy against him, letting his head rest against the crook of his neck, feeling his hot breath against his skin. A canon fires incredibly close by and Luffy flinches, hands coming to curl around Ace's waist weakly.

"Knew you'd come back," he slurs into Ace's ear, hanging on the edge of unconsciousness. "Don't do that... 'Kay?"

Holding back a laugh that's intersected by a harsh sob, Ace nods into Luffy's hair. "I told you I wasn't going to leave you, didn't I?"

Sabo, apparently, still has a brain. Before Ace even realises what's happening, a gloved hand has grabbed his shoulder and is tugging him to the right, arms reaching around him to make sure Luffy is alright. Pain soars through Ace's iced-over chest for a second as he's jolted, but it fades when they come to a stop, sheltered by the massive corpse of a fallen marine who rivals Whitebeard for size. Then, Sabo comes into Ace's field of vision, flecks of ice in his hair and on his eyelashes. He reaches out and grabs Ace's shoulder, hand moving up to clutch the side of his neck, as if he's trying to make sure Ace is actually there.

"Miss me?" Ace manages to choke out, eyes streaming with the smoke surrounding them.

"You're the craziest person I've ever met," Sabo replies flatly, before dutifully clambering across Luffy to hug his brother, shaking slightly. They all are. For a second, they take refuge from the war, sheltered by a gargantuan leg, clutching at one another. Ace can't remember the last time he was hugged this hard, and it feels strangely comforting. In that moment, he decides what he's going to do.

"We need to get to the _East Wind_ ," Ace says in a low voice. "They haven't left yet, right?"

"I don't think so," replies Sabo, poking his head up over the marine's body to look over to the bay just as a voice yells, "Ace's body! It's gone!"

Yells break out anew through the revolutionaries, some angry, others scared, others still filled with grief. Ace can make out Marco's voice, hollow and devastated, but can't decipher his words.

"We need to go," Ace murmurs, securing the straw hat on Luffy's head and wondering in a passing thought how he got it.

"Your old man...?" Sabo asks, meeting his eyes. "What about the rest of the revs?"

Ace takes a deep breath, as if to steel himself, and replies, "They'll be okay, one way or another. It's like you said earlier - I think I get it now. I'm not the real reason they came here, am I?"

Sabo lowers his head. "Ace, I'm sorry, I..."

"It's okay, dumbass, I get it." Ace tucks Luffy a little closer, not quite ready to let go yet. "They still care about me, and a lot. Just... not as much as it seems."

"What are you talking about?" Luffy murmurs, voice nearly inaudible over the tumult.

Ace winces. "The revolutionaries are my family, but they didn't come here to rescue me. Not like you two did. They knew that this was going to be the one chance they had to truly take down the marines, with them all gathered here. And I doubt they would have... gone as far to rescue me from a small, private execution." _That's what Leo implied, anyway_.

Sabo raises an eyebrow. "You had a lot of time to think while you were, y'know. Dead."

"I did," Ace agrees simply.

"Alright." Sabo claps his hands, face grim. "We can talk about that later. For now, we need to move. If the revolutionaries are really planning to take this whole island to the ground, then we should probably get out of here before they do."

"Deal," replies Ace, trying to half-stand. He lets Sabo drape Luffy over his back - because really, there's no way he's going to be able to walk any further now - and stays low to the ground. Nobody knows that he's alive right now, and that could be the one thing that saves them.

A lean figure comes hurtling suddenly into their field of view, locked in battle with three wiry marines, stumbling backwards with a gracelessness that tells Ace immediately that he's injured. Sabo inhales sharply before rushing forwards, yelling, "Law!"

The man, 'Law' falls back as Sabo takes over, panting heavily and watching all three marines fall to the blonde's pipe. Luffy shifts on Ace's shoulder, and when Ace looks down at him, he can see that he's shooting the man a weak smile. Law stares back, eyes wide, the shadows under his eyes standing out staunchly. The moment stretches uncomfortably.

Then, Sabo slings his pipe over his shoulder and pushes himself pointedly between Luffy and Law. "Yeah, no. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not getting anywhere near my brother."

"I don't blame you, Sabo-san," Law replies wearily, as if he'd expected this, regaining his composure.

"Sorry, what?" Ace asks.

"I'll explain later." Sabo clenches his jaw, shooting a glance over at the _East Wind_. "We've gotta go."

"How many times are you gonna say that before we actually go?" Luffy asks, genuinely. Ace rolls his eyes before breaking into a run, feeling Luffy's arms tighten around him. Sabo and Law follow, and they shove through the battle like shadows, praying that no eyes turn their way.

The _East Wind_ approaches surprisingly quickly, looming over the group, and they're barley ten feet from the edge of the ice when it happens. Ace flinches sharply as a voice yells out, painfully loudly, Ace?!"

At least ten heads turn their way, and Ace freezes up like a deer in the headlights. Somebody screams, "Look! It's Ace!" and somebody else gasps, "Holy crap, commander!" More and more people turn to look, and Ace is soon met with dozens of shocked gazes - some hostile, others dumbfounded. For a few moments, the whole battlefield seems to draw breath.

"Ace!"

Marco suddenly hurls himself into Ace's field of view, bloody and breathing heavily, eyes wide as he takes in his very much alive friend. His face flits through thousands of different emotions in a split second - shock, disbelief, relief, anger - before settling on determination. "Go! Now!"

Ace doesn't need to hear it twice, but that doesn't make it any easier to turn away from the hopeful gazes of his comrades and carry on running, ignoring how they yell for him to stay, trying not to listen as their distraction costs them valuable seconds in battle and they start to fall like dominoes. He's found his people. Now, he just has to live for them.

"Focus on fighting, yoi!" Marco yells, and a wave of affection for the man rushes up inside Ace. He's trying to distract them, both so they keep concentrating on staying alive and so the attention stays off Ace for long enough to get his brothers on the _East Wind_. Ace nods over his shoulder at the older man before putting on a final burst of speed and hurtling across the ice to the ship, Luffy a deadweight on his back, Sabo at his side. Law peels off to tackle another pair of soldiers at some point, and Sabo yells after him to be careful but doesn't stop running.

When they're two feet from the ship, heart pounding, Ace takes a running leap onto the rigging and pulls himself up by his arms, praying that Luffy will hang on, the ice in his chest stinging at his nerves but not even coming close to melting. It makes mobility a little hard, sure, but he has to marvel at it – it's holding him together when he should have fallen apart a long time ago.

Sabo, more agile without the extra weight, climbs swiftly to the railing and extends a hand to help Ace up, panting slightly. When Ace sticks his head over, there's nobody on deck; the others must have left to help their crew now that the battle is really getting heated. It's good – now, at least, they can find a place to hunker down and treat Luffy without the hassle of explaining how Ace is alive. Ace heaves himself up over the railing and then onto the more shadowy part of the deck, hidden from the fighters below.

Together, he and Sabo lay Luffy out on the wooden deck. The kid is close to unconsciousness now, blood soaking the bandages on his face, but he still manages to smile up at them. It looks like a painful feat. He tries to speak, but only a small, choked noise escapes his throat. As Sabo slowly starts to check his body for injuries, Ace brushes back his brother's hair with a soft 'shush'-ing noise, on high alert as the world descends into chaos just below the deck.

"I'm gonna go find a med kit or something," Sabo says vaguely, sounding a bit out of it himself. He doesn't sound eager to leave, but manages it, and Ace doesn't watch him go.

Luffy struggles to sit up, barely managing to twitch a few inches into the air. "A-Are my crew okay?"

"The people you travelled here with?" Ace scans his brain. The last time he saw them, they were fighting with the revolutionaries after the swordsman died. He has no idea. Still, he soothes, "They're fine, don't worry. I'm sure they're just on the Moby, you'll see them soon, okay?"

Luffy nods, still looking unsettled but obviously too exhausted to push it, and burrows further into Ace's lap. His blood stains the older teen's shorts. "We saved you?"

Ace forces a chuckle. "Like a damsel in distress, yeah. Never would've thought the time would come when _you_ would have to save _me_ , little brother."

Luffy laughs, and this time it's genuine. "We had a lot of help! Your family are great."

"You guys…" Ace shifts uncomfortably. "You guys are my family."

"What do you mean?" Luffy looks up at Ace like he's stupid. "You can have more than one family, you know? We've got Shanks, and I've got my crew, and Sabo's got Traf' and you've got the revs! And we've still got each other, so what's the problem with that?"

"I'm…" Ace stares at nothing, eyes widening in comprehension. "I'm an idiot, aren't I?"

Luffy giggles. "Ace is a big idiot," he slurs slightly, looking close to falling asleep.

"Sabo!" Ace calls as he sees his brother make his way back onto the deck, "Take care of Luffy!"

"Where are you going?!" Sabo calls as Ace stands.

"I'm gonna go take care of my people," he grins in reply, before running to the railing and springing off it into the heat of the battle. And this time, he doesn't attempt to hide himself. Catching sight of Marco trying to hold back a rear admiral, blood streaming down his face, the eighteen-year old runs forwards and kicks the brute away in a whirl of flames. A roar rises up through the crowd of heaving bodies, getting louder and louder as more and more people turn to look at Ace. Grinning, he turns to Marco and raises an eyebrow.

Marco looks _pissed_. "What are you doing here?! Get back to Shanks' ship, yoi!"

"Like hell!" Ace raises a fist, letting flames burst to life around it. "I don't care _why_ you came, you guys are my family! I'm not leaving you."

"You idiot!"

Marco lunges past Ace to send a spinning kick at an approaching enemy's head, blue flames lashing out from him like a bullet, just as a bright sapphire blur shoots down from the sky and straight into Ace's chest. The black-haired teen catches Pidge with both arms, a laugh bubbling up inside him as the phoenix burrows into his chest with a contented trill. Revolutionaries crowd in and Ace is slapped on the back, has his hair ruffled, is even roughly hugged a few times as they dive in to show that they're happy that he's alive before being pulled back into the battle.

Suddenly, his eyes catch onto a head of sandy-brown hair and he pushes through the crowd, absently smacking away a puny, pink-haired marine who tries to take a swing at his head. A second later, his hand lands on Jake's shoulder and the kid looks up at him, eyes widening. There's blood in his hair and he has a black eye and a split lip, but aside from that and the panic in his eyes, he seems fine.

"I don't have time to explain," Ace says quickly, "Just go to the _East Wind_. My brothers are there, Sabo will take care of you, okay?"

"What do you- how are you-" Jake takes a step forwards, voice desperate. "Why are you helping me?"

"Leo told me to," Ace says evenly, "Now go!"

He doesn't wait to watch Jake go, instead turning away and tackling a marine to the ground. Soon, he falls into a rhythm – take one of the shitheads down, survey the battle, protect those who need it and repeat. With his reappearance, the revolutionaries perk up, regaining their enthusiasm. At some point, Ace finds himself fighting alongside Law, who looks close to falling over but is forcing himself onwards.

"You should go to the Moby Dick," Ace pants, springing back onto his hands to avoid the swing of a sword and using his feet to swipe the offender's legs out from under her. "You're hurt!"

"They don't know me. The last time I saw them…" Law trails off, lodging his dagger into another fighter's neck before darting in to cover Ace's exposed back. "Well, I doubt they're too fond of me right now, Ace-ya."

"Alright, then go to the _East Wind_ – Sabo's there, you know him, right?"

Law grunts, shoving at a rogue revolutionary who is stumbling around listlessly, and says coldly, "I can take care of myself without your instruction, Ace-ya."

"Touchy much?" Ace catches sight of Scarlet struggling in the grasp of a heavyset marine a few metres away and rushes in, punching them away and helping her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

She brushes her pink hair out of her face and looks up, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I'm good. And you're…dead."

"Kinda, yeah," Ace replies, "But I'm alright, I swear!"

"Feeling better than the last time we saw you?" There's a little accusation in her voice and it catches Ace off-guard, but before he can formulate a reply, she sighs and shakes her head. "Sorry, Ace, I didn't mean that. It's just been…"

"A tough day?"

"Yeah. A tough day." Scarlet smiles up at Ace for a second, before her eyes slide past him and widen. "Oh god, _Oyaji!_ "

Ace whirls around so fast that his neck cricks, horror gripping at his heart when he takes in what's happening in the centre of the bay – Whitebeard's gargantuan form is down on one knee and he's clutching at his chest, which is bleeding heavily. The Blackbeard Pirates are lined up in front of him with their weapons in their hands, most grinning, and Blackbeard himself stands at their centre. Ace's eyes land on the sniper from the siege of Edgetown, the one who shot Luffy a million years ago, and he steps forwards with a yell on his lips.

Marco's voice screams, "Dad-!"

The Blackbeard Pirates open fire, and the world in front of Ace's eyes explodes into light and sound.

* * *

Sabo kneels in front of Luffy as Whitebeard is assaulted, blocking his view of the carnage, trying not to look. The kid who saved Ace covers his ears with a yelp, curled up against the railing, hands bloody. He's been trying to help Sabo with Luffy and though neither of them has extensive medical knowledge they're getting through it, and he is managing to help somewhat. Ace must trust him a lot – or care about him a lot – if he chose to send him here. Sabo pulls Luffy further into the shadows, paranoid that the deck is being thrown into more stark light, trying to be as gentle as he can.

Suddenly, quicker than he can follow, Jake yells and jumps to his feet, placing his body between the brothers and the railing. Sabo turns quickly, met with the sight of a figure clambering over the railing, silhouetted by the light of the battle. At first, he thinks they're Ace; after a second, however, he realises that they're too short and too lean to be his brother. He tries to pull himself to his feet but a groan from Luffy keeps him down, and he can only stare on as Jake stands between them. He can see the kid's hands visibly shaking.

"Who are you?!" Sabo yells.

"Please, I'm not here to hurt you!" a female voice yells in reply. Hands extended in front of her, a girl with short, auburn hair steps into their view, eyes desperate, bruises on her face. There's a tattoo of a circle topped by an oval on her arm – an angel and its halo. "I'm a part of AANGEL!"

"What do you want?" Jake asks cautiously.

The girl clenches her jaw. "Our leader… Apparently, he was with Doflamingo. Our ships are all sunk, our members are being slaughtered – we don't have anywhere to go!" She lowers her voice. " _Please_. The revs won't take us. We need to get away somehow, or we're all going to die."

Sabo is about to answer, exchanging a glance with Jake, when Luffy raises his head slightly. "…Koala?" he rasps out.

"You know her?" Sabo asks, adjusting Luffy in his lap to try and lessen the pain in his face.

"Yeah," Luffy replies, "She helped us, back when we crossed the Fringe. She gave me and my c-crew a place to stay."

Guilt twists in Sabo's gut and he turns back towards the girl, mind whirling. "Alright. There's a ship called the Baratie across the bay – the one with a fish figurehead. Pretty hard to miss. It's mostly empty now, so take your comrades there and try to patch them up. The owner, Zeff, won't turn you away. Okay?"

Koala nods, clutching a weeping gash on her left side. Before she can turn, Luffy says, "If you see my crew…can you take them with you?" He sounds pleading and desperate, a tone Sabo has never heard from him before. "P-Please, just…just make sure that they're okay?"

Nodding, Koala turns towards the railing. "I will, I promise," she says quickly, before hopping off the railing and disappearing into the darkness. For a second, Jake stands still, before the tension drains from his body and he returns to his spot against the railing. Sabo stares out across the battlefield for a moment, eyes stinging with the light of gunfire and cannons and flames. Whitebeard looks close to falling. Shanks is still tearing at Kizaru. Ace and Law are nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a yell from across the ice draws Sabo's eyes. The fighters turn their eyes as one, and Sabo feels his jaw drop at the sight in front of him. He inhales sharply, disbelieving and hopeful in equal measure, squinting through the smoke to confirm that what he's seeing is even real.

Doflamingo is standing perfectly still, surrounded by Foxes. And Dragon has just plunged a knife straight into his heart.

* * *

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 43, Aug 5:**

 ** _Now son, wHY  
Uncle? Twin sons? Ritual?  
You are seriously slowly killing me and this timeline isn't helping at all  
*SCREECHIN S*  
Update~_**

 **Hey!  
why? Because plot  
yeah, shit really went down in the last chapter! I never really realised it until the reviews started coming in – last chapter was fucking wild! It was fun to write…  
thanks for the review! Ilysm**

 **YJV, Chapter 43, Aug 5:**

 ** _Wow! Finally some answers and explanations! And phew Ace didn't really doe, and he can come back, but he will technically be dead yet alive. Cool. He will die when Sabo dies, aww yes, that's the only way I will ever accept their deaths and wow, Luffy's the wild card eh? Epic XD_**

 **Heyoo!  
yep, explanations! It took long enough for me to reveal then, but im glad the reveal was (hopefully) up to expectations.  
and of course Luffy's a wildcard! Breaking all the rules as well as literally breaking the world lmao, just the luff we all know and love!  
thanks for reviewing, ily!|  
PS: your fic…..is….killing….me…..i love it**

 **7, Chapter 43, Aug 5:**

 ** _Thank you so so so freaking much! This was just what i needed. Thank you for not (yet) killing off the ASL. And I loooooooooove the idea thats so freaking awesome! Damn Luffy is like the universe equivalent of a hiccup. And even though he's the reason Ace and Sabo failed the prophecy maybe its for the best because it sounded like the shift in power would just be more of the same and a few decades later they would fall into the same pattern over and over, so like Luff disrupts the cycle? lol thats why Luffy got a bomb dropped on him in the earlier chapters, he is a literal bad luck magnet. (Also zoro's really dead then?) Anways thanks for giving me some hope :) Also I love how detailed your story is you must have planned it really well. I can't wait for more._**

 **(I legit squealed reading this, thank you so so so so much!)  
hey!  
you're welcome! Yep, of course I couldn't kill off my kids, I love them too much. And I'm glad you liked the idea! Of course luffy is messing up literally everything, that's just the way he works (and tbh, that's him in canon too lmao)  
Yeah, I think it is for the best. Im planning to write a oneshot where shanks was never born, actually! So keep an eye out for that, cause it would show the original timeline as I imagine it!  
yep, luffy has been through a lot, he really is a danger magnet (AKA the universe quite literally wants him dead). And yeah…zoro be dead…im sorry it was necessary  
thank you so much, I'm glad you liked it! it means so much! Ily**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 43, Aug 5:**

 ** _I should write my will bc this chapter keeps killing me_**

 **ILY TY PLEASE DON'T DIE ILYYY**

 **Guest, Chapter 43, 23h ago:**

 ** _Wow you have done an amazing job on this fic love every chapter:)...i love how ace and sabo where meant to be really really close and protective of each other..would u be able to do like a oneshot of them like that?_**

 **Thank you so very much!  
and holy crap, anon, I love that idea! It's already in the works now, so keep an eye out for that oneshot! Aaaah thank you so much for the idea I'll try to get it done soon I promise!  
thank you for reviewing, I love youuuu!**

 **Guest, Chapter 43, 15h ago:**

 ** _I'm sorry you made yourself sad but at least you now know what you usually leave me feeling like.  
I'm actually pretty happy right now, Ace is coming back and we got sooo many answers.  
"I can't believe that Marco and Shanks are actually brothers. That's the best thing I've ever heard" yep you said it, the best thing, my list of adored brothers grows.  
Even though we have answers, there's still some questions, the dark side of the revolution? I want to know more, especially about the quarantine, and at the same time I want to keep viewing it as completely innocent. You're very welcome for the reviews btw *hugs*_**

 **Hey!  
Yeah, I think I can empathise. A little bit.  
yay! I'm glad the chapter made you happy – that was my intention!  
leo is The Most Relatable character I've written in a while I mean honestly I identify with him so much. He's completely right.  
the dark side will be revealed soon, I promise, just stay tuned! Just remember what leo said – everything is grey when you look at it up close. That applies to every element of this fic.  
thanks for the review again, ily! *big hugs***

 **Minchy-chan, Chapter 43, 11h ago:**

 ** _So let me get this straight!  
Sabo is the child of one of Rouge's friend with Dragon. Rouge wants to make a ritual to save her child and thus dooming the other (if I got it right), she dumps the baby in a western island, and his parents just let her? Were they in a position where they couldn't do anything to stop her or were they just really awful parents? 'Cause I really can't put a finger on it..._**

 **Hey!  
Thank you for letting me know that it was confusing – I've edited that section, so it should be easier to understand now. If it's still confusing, let me know!  
thanks for the review, ily!**


	45. 3-14 - Fox

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **GOOD LUCK**

* * *

 **Chapter 45 - Fox**

* * *

Sabo's breath catches in his throat as the world grinds to a stop. For a few shuddering, anticipatory seconds, Doflamingo doesn't move. Sabo feels Luffy tense beside him, and can see Jake's wide eyes. Everybody here knows what the next few seconds will mean.

Then, the spell breaks. Doflamingo, towering over Dragon easily, throws his head back and laughs. Humourless and utterly insane, it rings through the battlefield like a foghorn. Sabo shivers, watching in abject horror as Doflamingo reaches up and pulls the knife out of his chest, throwing it to the floor like it's little more than a troublesome twig. Blood pours grotesquely from the wound in his chest, dripping down and staining his flamboyant shirt, but even as it pours, Sabo can tell that the flow is slowing to a stop. He watches, dumbfounded, as the _stab wound_ in Doflamingo's chest slowly ceases to bleed, and the man rubs the bloodied area as if it's little more than a minor itch, wide grin on his face.

The question trails off, unanswered, because nobody seems to know just what question to ask. Eyes burning, Sabo stands, letting Jake take his place in keeping Luffy comfortable as he makes his way over to the railing. It feels almost as if he's in a trance. The image of Doflamingo, towering over the head of AANGEL like a monstrous titan, is burned into his irises.

Sabo flinches harshly as Dragon's rough voice suddenly rings out through the bay, rough and ragged and utterly defeated. "You told me that you had my son!" he roars, wracked with agony and anger in equal measure. "Where is he?!"

Doflamingo laughs again, and it seems even more chilling than before. "Oh, I _had_ him. Now, he's stuck in Stormy Down. Probably dead. I didn't bother to check."

Sabo knows immediately that Doflamingo is bluffing. The man is one of the most intelligent and manipulative people here - and that's seriously saying something - and he must know by now that all of the residents of Stormy Down are out of there.

Dragon growls, stepping forwards in a motion as quick as lightning and lashing out at Doflamingo - but the other man is far, far faster. Before Sabo can even blink, the smaller man is hitting the ground hard, and blood splatters across the ice. Still Doflamingo laughs, and still Sabo grits his teeth, something deep inside him desperate to help Dragon. Desperate to help his _father_ who - if all of this adds up - gave up his entire organisation just for some chance to see Sabo again.

"Take care of Luffy," Sabo mutters to Jake. Before the small teen can protest, he climbs onto the railing and takes a flying leap to the ice, feeling the wind scrape as his skin. Above, the sky is so dark with smoke and ash from the magma that it may as well be nighttime. On the ice, there's no sign of Ace. Sabo doesn't doubt that he's trying to protect his old man, but his heart clenches with worry anyway. He's lost both of his brothers now. He can't lose one of them again.

Sabo runs blindly, mind no longer on fighting, breath coming in quick, short gasps. Praying for his energy to last him long enough, he sprints for the place where Doflamingo and Dragon are facing off, the world blurring at his sides like a watercolour painting, ice cold and rough beneath his boots. Somebody yells his name as he passes but he ignores it, pushing harder, the metal of his pipe hot against his hand. Smoke fills his nostrils. He steps on a body and doesn't bother to look down at it, cringing as his boot is met with the crunch of bone.

"Sabo!" A body slams into Sabo's and he goes down hard, a yell tearing from his throat. The impact with the ground steals his breath and for a second he doesn't move, seeing stars, aching. Then, he meets Ace's eyes and starts struggling, hard.

"Let me go!" he yells with no real heat, trying to see over Ace's head with a lump lying heavy in his throat.

"No! Don't be stupid!" Still pinning his brother down to the ice, Ace's expression contorts from angry to pleading. "Luffy could be _bleeding out_ right now and you're worried about some asshole you've never met?!"

"He's not 'some asshole', he's my father!" Sabo yells back. He can feel the adrenaline fading from his body in a rush and struggles harder still.

Suddenly, his foot makes contact with Ace's kneecap and there's a sharp, sickening crack. Immediately, as Ace's face crumples with pain, he stops struggling. Obviously suppressing a groan of pain, Ace pulls himself off Sabo, limping heavily, barely able to put any weight on his right leg. His face is turning rapidly grey with pain.

"Oh my god, Ace- shit," Sabo says frantically, standing and immediately offering an arm to support the other teen. "Shit, shit, I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine," Ace grits out, but there's no malice in his voice. "Just _trust me_ and come on! We need to go back."

He tries to take a step forwards, arm still pulled over Sabo's shoulder, and his leg buckles. With a yelp, he slips again, and Sabo barely manages to keep him from hitting the ice. That would hardly do his injured knee much good right now. Glancing around, Sabo tugs Ace upwards to take more of his weight, desperate for any type of help. He doesn't realise that the shaking in his limbs has started again until his teeth begin to chatter, even in the hot, humid air. Akainu is fifty feet across the ice. Sabo prays with everything he has that the admiral doesn't see them.

"Sabo..." Ace rasps, "Just leave m-"

"No," interrupts Sabo flatly, in a deadpan manner. "You've sacrificed yourself once today, idiot, don't overdo it."

Against his shoulder, Sabo can feel Ace smile slightly. Affection slips across the bond, a bond that the blonde had barely realised was there in the heat of the battle. "Aw, come on, you find it endearing deep down."

"If that's endearing, then I'll eat Luffy's hat," Sabo laughs in reply. For a few moments, he's content to stand here and laugh, aching all over, smoke in his eyes. Then, the world slams back into the pair like a freight train.

"Ace-ya, Sabo-san!"

Quicker than Sabo's eyes can comprehend, Law sprints in and grabs Ace's other arm to support him fully, face smudged with ash. He and Sabo exchange grim looks over Ace's head. "You good?" Sabo yells over the tumult.

"I'll live," Law replies dryly.

Together, the trio set off, Ace doing his best to help (but barely getting anywhere, what with a busted knee cap and a hole in his chest), Sabo trying to stop himself from looking back at Dragon and Law grumbling sarcastically every once in a while, face tense with pain - or irritation. Sabo can't really tell, not now that he's so distracted. It's a painstaking journey, every step bringing on a fresh wave of aches and pains and groans, but the three push onwards. Revolutionaries shoot Ace concerned looks as they pass, a few trying to step in and help, but Sabo does his best to reassure them.

Behind them, Sabo hears a heart wrenching yell of pain - then, silence. He doesn't turn away, but something weighty settles into his chest. Somehow, he knows what just happened.

Ace stumbles, gritting his teeth. His knee is swollen dangerously, and a murky purple-brown in colour, bruising rapidly. Once again, guilt swirls up inside Sabo like a tsunami, but he tries to shove it back until they reach the ship. The route back seems far longer than it was before.

Once the _East Wind_ is in sight, Law turns to Sabo. "Will you and your brother be alright from here?" he asks in a businesslike tone.

"Will you be?" Sabo shoots back.

Law rolls his eyes, before turning away and drawing his dagger to take on a nearby Fox, who moves so quickly that they're little more than a blur to Sabo. One of the elite. Praying that his friend will be okay, the blonde turns away and shifts Ace a little on his shoulder before taking off, huffing and panting, chest tight. Part of him wants to turn back, aching at the thought of just leaving Dragon when the man has searched so desperately for him, but he knows that it isn't that simple. For now, Luffy and Ace have to take priority.

Back on the _East Wind_ , Jake is trying to make Luffy as comfortable as possible. They're situated in the shadows, Luffy's head resting on the younger boy's thigh. Both of them look unhealthily pale, Luffy from blood loss and Jake presumably from the hellish nature of the battle he was thrown into. As Sabo helps Ace to lay down next to them, he frowns. Jake, whoever he is to Ace, looks even younger than Luffy. The ash on his cheeks makes him look even thinner than he is.

At his brothers' arrival, Luffy shifts slightly, reaching out to grasp the hem of Ace's shorts. "You... you okay?" he slurs.

Ace shushes him, face still grey with pain. "It's okay, we're both fine, you don't need to worry," he says softly, shifting further behind the mast. "We're here now. And we're not gonna leave you, alright?"

"Sabo, too?"

Sabo sits beside Ace, reaching across to brush back Luffy's hair with obvious gentleness. "Yep. We're going to get out of here soon, we promise."

Luffy's bandaged face curls into a smile, and it tugs at the old scar under his eye. It's hard to believe that he got that six years ago. It feels like a million. It feels like a decade since they even entered this battle in the first place.

Slightly paranoid, Ace tugs Sabo further into the shadow of the mast and inspects his face, taking in the scars without comment. Squirming under the intense scrutiny, Sabo waits with bated breath for the comment about how he got them, for the offhand jibe at how they can't be that bad, for the disgust. Instead, when he opens his eyes, Ace looks incredibly sad. It's a sadness Sabo hasn't felt from him since Edgetown was bombed, tinged with regret, wishful for better days.

Sabo takes his time to scan Ace's face in return. The teen's grown up, that's for sure - there are slight tension lines in his forehead, and crinkles around his eyes from laughter. Freckles cover his face more than ever before, speckled like eggshells, and there's a scar on his chin that Sabo knows immediately is from Loguetown. It looks painful, around two inches long and one inch wide, and has a slight concave. Aside from that, Ace's body certainly has developed too; he's far more muscled than the beanstalk he was as a kid, much taller and stockier. His grey eyes seem to have darkened somewhat.

Ace's stare suddenly breaks off and he looks down, face tight. "Should I even ask how you got those scars?"

"I would tell you if I knew," Sabo replies wearily. Catching Ace's confused, slightly alarmed look, he sighs. "It's a really long, painful story. Can this wait until we're away from here?"

Scowling with no real anger, Ace turns away. "I'm holding you to that."

"Wouldn't expect anything else," says Sabo. "I'm guessing the one on your chin is from...?"

"Loguetown, yeah." Snorting, Ace settles back against the mast and nudges Sabo's foot affectionately. "Feels like a long time ago, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess."

The pair slip into unsure silence for a minute or so. The sound of fighting and screaming swells in the air, and soon, Sabo realises that both he and his brother are flinching at every yell of pain, every explosion. Things are getting worse out there. The smoke in the sky and the magma raining down make it look like Armageddon. Ace angles himself so he can see Whitebeard, knees pulled up to his icy chest, and winces with every hit that the old man takes. Though neither of them can see Whitebeard's face, Sabo doubts that he's even managed to stay conscious for this long. He stands stock still, like a wax statue, as his children fight to get closer to him.

More marines stream in every minute, and by the time Sabo gathers the courage to look over at Dragon and Doflamingo, they look close to overwhelming the revs. The agents of AANGEL are nowhere to be seen, having been scattered by their leader's apparent betrayal, and aside from the few pirates who have joined them - the Red-Haired pirates, the Strawhats and the crew of the Baratie - the revolutionaries fight alone. Dragon himself is on the ground, indistinct and hard to make out from here but evidently either unconscious or-

Sabo shudders, shifting closer to Jake and Luffy and clenching his jaw. Ace picks up on the movement and nudges Sabo's foot again, both to try to distract the blonde and himself. "Shanks should be here soon, as soon as he finishes up with Kizaru. Then, we're gone."

Sabo chuckles sadly. "Yeah, hopefully," he murmurs vaguely.

After a few more moments of silence, the ex-marine turns his head towards the ocean, squinting out over the waves. They're tumultuous now, have been since Whitebeard first shook the world with his immense power. Beyond them, the blue sky seems incredibly distant, like another world entirely. It's too dark here, shrouded in thick smoke, for the sun's light to reach them. Magma lights up the ice as Akainu joins the assault on Whitebeard, and Ace winces harshly, every part of him obviously wanting to go help his father.

"There's nothing you can do," Sabo tells him, gently.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sighing, Ace turns and takes Luffy from Jake, speaking softly to the pirate just to reassure him that his brothers are still here.

Sabo turns back towards the ocean, but this time, something new catches his eye. He sits up slightly, alerting the other three boys that something's up, and squints into the distance on high-alert.

"Sabo?" Luffy slurs, "What 's it?"

Squinting harder, Sabo tries to make out what the three new specks on the horizon are. They obviously didn't come as one, being in drastically different positions to the bay, but they're all headed straight for the bay. A shiver runs up his spine. "I don't know…" he answers cautiously.

Ace takes a look too, brow furrowed. "Doesn't look like they're together," he comments.

"Nope," agrees Sabo, brain whirling. "Do you know anybody else who would have turned up?"

"Hell if I know. I barely know half of the people who've already turned up, anyway," Ace says, running his hand back through his hair. The distant sunlight reflects off the ice holding his chest together.

Suddenly, yells of shock erupt through the bay so audibly that Sabo and Ace's heads swing around in tandem. It's all blurry from so far away, but Sabo can just about make out a nimble figure of average height swinging at Doflamingo in an almost frenzied manner, as he laughs and evades them. Sabo can't help but notice, however, that he's putting extra effort into dodging the swipes. As if he didn't just pull a knife out of his chest; as if he's vulnerable.

Ace inhales sharply. "Holy crap."

"What?"

He turns to Sabo, eyes wide. "That's Haley!"

Just then, a hand comes over the side to grasp and a gangly figure climbs up. All four on the ship flinch for the second time today, Ace and Sabo shifting to put themselves in front of the younger two. Sabo lets out a sigh of relief as he sees the face of the newcomer.

"Law!" The blonde rushes forwards, pulling the sullen doctor down and out of the view of the fighters, tension fading from his form.

Ace, however, stays on guard. He doesn't move from his place in front of Jake and Luffy. "Why are you here?" he asks.

Rolling his eyes and shoving Sabo's concerned hands away, Law looks up and meets the revolutionary's eyes. "I know how to take down Doflamingo," he says flatly.

 _That_ gets Ace's attention. "What? How?"

"I'll try to make it as simple as I can." Law takes a deep breath. "Doflamingo's Gift is one of control. He can control things primarily using blood – if he has access to somebody's blood, he can put a mask on them and use it to control them. Like he did to your sniper and swordsman, Luffy-ya."

Wincing at the word 'swordsman', Luffy sits up slightly, a little more colour in his cheeks than before. "How did he get Zoro's blood, though?"

"As far as I know, your swordsman's father is – or was - a Fo-"

"Alright, alright, we can talk about this later." Face determined, Ace turns back towards Law. "What does his Gift have to do with taking him down?"

"Doflamingo's Gift is incredibly powerful, but it does have a weakness. While he can control anybody who he has the blood of, and is basically physically invincible, people who share _his_ blood are the only ones who can kill him. And all they have to do for that to happen is draw blood – then, he's dead."

"So all we need is one of Doflamingo's blood relatives to get close enough, and then…?"

Law nods, still panting slightly. "Then, he's down."

Ace scoffs. "Great, sounds jolly. All we need to do is track down one of his relatives."

Shooting Sabo a meaningful look, Law says, "Not exactly…"

Sabo snaps his fingers, eyes lighting up. "Oh, yeah! Law, your adoptive father is…"

"Exactly, Sabo-san. And he's here right now, fighting with the revolutionaries, so all we have to do is get him close enough to Doflamingo to strike."

Ace considers the plan, before agreeing cautiously. "Alright. Luffy , you stay here with Jake – no, listen to me, _stay_. Tattoo-guy, do you know where your dad is now?"

Law gives Ace a pointed look. "I have a name, Ace-ya. And yes – he's currently fighting a CP9 agent, and looks close to winning. Once he takes her down, we'll rush in and get him. He knows what to do."

"Wait a minute…" Ace glances back across at Doflamingo. "We might not have to. Look."

Law looks across the ice with a raised eyebrow, taking in the still raging fight between Doflamingo and Haley, so quick and viscious that the ice beneath the pair is beginning to crack. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?" he asks dryly.

Sabo notices it, too. "Look. With Dragon, Doflamingo didn't even bother dodging. But with her, he's making sure not even to get a scratch. Do you reckon she could be…?"

Law's face curls into a look of intense concentration. "It's possible. Do either of you know her?"

"I do," Ace speaks up. "She's a revolutionary. Used to be a part of my division, but she's been missing for two years now."

"Do you know how old she is? There are rumours that Doflamingo had a daughter, but I never would have expected them to be true," Law says.

"Uh, about twenty, I think?"

Sabo clears his throat. "Maybe we should take our chances. If we can help her to just get a scratch in, then it could get rid of one of the biggest threats here, right?"

"Right," Ace agrees.

Law looks between the pair, before sighing and saying, "Alright, alright, we can try it."

Shooting Luffy a quick 'see you in a minute!', Ace jumps up onto the railing of the _East Wind_ and springs back down onto the ice, closely followed by Sabo and Law. When he hits the ice, his knee buckles and he can't hold back the yell that rips through him. Sabo catches him under the arms before he can fall, swearing viciously. "Listen, maybe you should stay here-"

"Don't baby me, Sabo!" Ace shoves himself up, wobbling dangerously on his feet. "I know who this guy is. He's been trying to kill us three since we were just kids, we can't just let him go!"

Sabo bites his bottom lip and suddenly, his face takes on an expression Ace knows all too well. An expression that reads like a book, and tells Ace definitively that he's about to do something very, very stupid.

"Wait, what are you going to-"

"Law, let's _go_!"

Law shoots Ace a small, smug smirk, as if he knew this was going to happen, before darting after Sabo. In synchronisation, the pair slip out of sight, and Ace screams in anger at their backs so loudly that he can feel something tear in his throat. They're gone. Ace struggles to his feet, fire licking at the walls of his stomach, a growl in his throat. He pants for a second, every muscle tight with pain, before taking a cautious step forwards-

It's so painful and sudden that Ace feels like he's been shot. His leg crumples like paper under him, and the world goes black for a second. When it comes back, ice is pressed against his cheek and he's sprawled on the ground.

Rough hands suddenly grab Ace by the shoulders and roll him over. The eighteen-year old tenses, readying his legs to kick out at the stranger's gut, before his gaze is met with very, very blue eyes.

"Marco?"

Face furrowed with emotion, Marco reaches down to pull Ace up, slinging his arm over his own shoulder. Ace feels his head lolling on the other's shoulder, but doesn't have the energy to pull it up. Blood runs down his forehead, and he realises vaguely that he must have hit his head on the ground. The world is spinning, stilted and blurry like an old video tape.

"Ace, yoi. Ace, look at me."

Ace raises his head weakly, aching all over. The throbbing in his knee makes him dizzy. "M'rco?" His voice sounds a lot younger than it usually does, he realises.

"I'm going to take you to the Moby, yoi. The medics are ready, I'm sure they can fix what-" Marco's breath catches in his throat. "What the admirals did to you," he chokes out.

Ace tries to protest, words bubbling up inside him to defend Aokiji, but they can't get out. Something feels like it's closed around his throat, an iron shackle seeping his strength. Slowly, one by one, his senses start to fizz out. "Not… not the M-Moby," he manages to slur, words garbled. "Gotta stay with… Luffy…"

Marco doesn't say anything for a second, and Ace can feel his stare. Then, he asks, "Where's Sabo, yoi? I'll get him to carry Luffy if he can't walk. We can take care of him, we're planning to withdraw soon."

"What…" Ace swallows. "What about Oyaji?" He raises his head slightly. Above him, Marco looks pained.

"We're planning to withdraw soon," Marco repeats, voice shaking. He doesn't meet the younger revolutionary's eyes.

Suddenly, two things happen at once.

Across the battlefield, Law's yell of rage has Ace's head snapping around. The doctor is standing in front of Doflamingo, dagger in hand, dwarfed by his massive figure. Doflamingo himself has reached down and is touching a corpse near his feet – Dragon's corpse. The man's blood is on his fingers. There's a smirk on his lips. For a split second, Sabo's eyes become impossibly wide. Ace yelps, Sabo takes a stumbling step backwards, Law runs forwards-

Just as the _East Wind_ shatters into a hellish hunk of magma behind Ace – the _East Wind,_ with Jake and Luffy on it - a fox mask materialises on Sabo's face.

A screech rings through the air, and Marco collapses to the ground, writhing with pain. The _East Wind_ burns. And Sabo's eyes meet Ace's through the eyes of the mask, desperate and filled with pain.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Sorry it took a little longer than usual – it's been a wild few days! Hopefully, this whole thing will be finished by September. That's my goal, anyway.**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 44, Aug 6:**

 ** _AHAHAHAHA  
atleast this chapter didn't kill me internally_**

 **Yeah, the only one being killed internally is Ace lmao  
ILY TY SORRY FOR THIS CHAPTER**

 **SarakuHD, Chapter 44, Aug 6:**

 ** _oKAY HOLY SHIT IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE I'VE READ THIS STORY. I've probably forgotten the details last I read since I'm stupid and I haven't even reviewed once so A REVIEW TO FIX THAT PROBLEM.  
oh thank fuck Ace is alive. Please don't kill off ASL please don't kill off ASL please don't- DOFLAMINGO'S DEAD JFC.  
i need;;; a refreseher on this fic. smh I need to re-read it just to be sure my facts are right because if they are aHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_**

 **hEY  
it's cool if it's been a while, take your time re-reading! It just means a lot that you came back at all :D  
THANKS FOR THE REVIEW ILY**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 44, Aug 6:**

 ** _First of all, son. S O N.  
Next, what the f*ck.  
update~ :D_**

 **HEY BOIII  
(yep, you're boi now. If im son, you're boi)  
what the fuck indeed~  
thanks for the review boi!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 44, Aug 6:**

 ** _BABY IS ALIVE AND IT'S ALL GONNA BE OKAY but ace wtf you doing get out you little stinker you're gonna get yourself killed again and i'm gonna cry again and no one wants that thank you good day_**

 **Hey!  
yeah, it's not all gonna be okay. Definitely not. Oh god.  
thanks for review! Don't cry too much, ily!**

 **YJV, Chapter 44, Aug 7:**

 ** _Oh, wow! Right back into action! XD this is great! But that still leaves quite a few qns unanswered. Like, what's gonna happen to Whiteboard and Blackbeard, what's going on on Dragon's end, when are Ace and Sabo gonna fire it up like hell fire, tgt btw, and what about Akainu?  
Also, I believe it is your fic that is killing me XD but thankies~~ ily~~_**

 **HEYOO MY FAVE  
yeah, they're getting back into it now! Plot! Whooooop!  
don't worry, all questions will be answered soon, I promise! Just hang on a little longer :D  
ily, thank you so much for the review!**

 **Guest, Chapter 44, Aug 7:**

 ** _I knew there was more to Aokiji, I changed my mind about what he was telling Luffy back there and now wonder if it was that he owed Whitebeard...  
I loved how Luffy made Ace realise that he could care about more than just his brothers and how the revs showed that they do care about him, Marco's reaction was awesome and yay Pidge is back, will he be staying with Ace? Ily *hugs*_**

 **Heyo!  
yeah, aokiji's a cool dude! Mostly  
luffy is strangely wise, in his own way. I mean, he' s an idiot, but he Knows Stuff and I respect that  
thank you so much for the review, ily!**


	46. 3-15 - My Brothers

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **READ THIS SHIT. SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG.**

* * *

 **Chapter 46 – My Brothers**

* * *

Jake hits the water with a yell, feeling water enter his nose and mouth as he sinks like a stone into the raging waves. He kicks madly for the surface, feeling shards of half-formed ice brushing past him, eyes squeezed shut. He can feel the heat from the impact coating his left side, stinging in the salt water like a raw wound, and panics as he feels the last of his air leave his lungs. For a few frantic moments, he kicks and flails, throat tight and mind blurry. Then, one hand breaks through to the surface. Jake gives one last mad push and his head hits open air.

The world lurches around him, blurred by the salt in his eyes, and for a second he dips back below the waves. Then, with a mad gasp, Jake starts to swim. In front of him, there's a huge reddish-gold blur, so bright that it burns his eyes, dominating over the whole world. The _East Wind_. It's gone, burning on the water like one massive flame, smashed irreparably by the magma. Jake squints for a second, trying to blink the water out of his eyes, before one urgent thought hits him - _Luffy_.

He wouldn't be proud to admit it, but for a second, Jake considers turning away. In his state, there's no way Luffy can swim, and if Jake goes back under, there's no telling whether he'll come back up a second time...

Then, he shakes himself, the image of Luffy struggling and fighting and yelling earlier burned into his mind. He was so _brave_ , throwing himself into danger with no regard for anything but his goal. He inspired Jake once - he can inspire him again. Taking a deep breath, Jake plunges back below the waves, ears popping, body seizing with the cold. Steeling himself, he opens his eyes.

The world under the water is blurry and ever-changing, waves churning around Jake so rapidly that for a second, he can make out no colour. Then, far below - a flash of red. Jake swims hard, lungs throbbing, stretching out a hand through the ice-cold waves and clawing madly in front of him. Water floods into his mouth and down his throat alarmingly, just as a hand weakly grasps his own. He holds it tightly, lips clamped shut. Together, Jake and Luffy kick towards the surface; light shines through the murky ocean, the water is frigid, Jake feels the air contract in his chest-

They break the surface at the same moment, paddling madly, limbs tangled in the water. Luffy coughs, sounding like he's trying to hack up a lung, spitting out a spurt of water. As Jake rubs the other's back lamely, he tries to keep from shivering, noting the deep cold that feels like it's seeping into his bones.

"W-We need to ge-get to shore," Luffy grits out through chattering teeth, hair plastered to his forehead.

"O-Okay, okay," stutters Jake, still holding onto Luffy. It takes a few seconds for them to find the shore, barely visible past the burning _East Wind_. When they do, it takes a joint effort to start swimming - they haul each other weakly, trying to kick out through the jolts of cold, and Luffy's eyes search desperately for his brothers on the shoreline.

"Will th-they think that we...?" Luffy doesn't need to finish the sentence.

"I don't know, I don't think s-so," Jake tries to reassure. Neither of them believes him, and Luffy kicks harder. The bandages on his face are completely drenched, looking close to falling off, and blood leaks slowly into the water.

When the pair reach the shore, they're both shivering violently. Luffy barely has enough energy to haul his upper body onto the ice, choking up the water in his lungs and throat, eyes stinging with salt. His face is burning with sharp, relentless pain from where the seawater has met with Zoro's sword slash. He reaches out with one hand to pull Jake up as well, and the pair lie on the ice for a second, gasping to regain their breath, coughing up water like fish out of water.

The moment ends as Luffy forces himself to his feet, swaying, still shaking. He looks down at Jake for a second, hair silhouetted in the blaze that's consuming Shanks' ship. "Can you stand up?"

Jake doesn't doubt that the other boy is perfectly willing to leave him behind so he struggles upright, feeling the wind cold on his wet skin. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." He shifts slightly closer to Luffy, glancing around. "Ace probably saw that - he might be around the other side of the ship, let's-"

A heart-wrenching scream suddenly rings out, turning heads from every direction, filled with so much raw agony that Luffy physically flinches back.

"No! _LUFFY_!"

* * *

When the _East Wind_ explodes, for a second, Ace's vision goes white. Whether with rage, shock or the explosion itself, he doesn't know. All he does know is that when his vision returns there are arms wrapped around his own from behind, tethering him to the spot, keeping him in one place and preventing him from rushing forwards to the _East Wind_. To where Luffy is.

Ace doesn't just struggle - he _ignites_ , kicking and yelling, fighting harder than he has in his life, terror impaling him like poison. His feet scrape on ice as he pushes and tries to rip his arms free, snarling like an animal as the blaze in front of him burns an imprint onto his eyes. The ache in his knee is gone, masked by adrenaline. The arms holding him are strong and unyeilding, and a sob of frustration rips free from him as his captor pulls him further and further away.

"Ace, please just calm down!" Izo's voice pleads in his ear. Ace can feel the hot metal of his guns pressed against his side.

"Let me go!" Ace lashes out with an elbow and jabs Izo hard in the stomach. The man grunts with pain, curling in on himself slightly, but doesn't relinquish his grip. Ace dips his head, teeth gritted. He can feel the heat from the blaze from here.

 _Luffy_... _!_

* * *

 _Ace wakes up in the middle of the night, and before his mind even registers what's going on around him, he sighs, knowing what must have woken him up. Another nightmare. If one thing hasn't improved in these past years, then it's Sabo's mental state._

 _Cracking an eye open, Ace is surprised to find that somebody is already curled up beside Sabo, whispering the reassurances that Ace usually would as Sabo, half-asleep, slowly calms down. Luffy doesn't look too tired, but concern mars his features and makes him look older than his ten years._

 _"S'okay, Sab. Ace's okay. Luffy's okay," the black-haired child whispers, seeming not to have noticed that Ace is awake. It hits Ace hard; Luffy's imitating him, comforting their blonde brother, taking that responsibility onto his own small shoulders._

 _He's growing up but, somehow, exactly as kind as he always has been. If anything, that's the one thing that Ace admires about his brothers. They're good people, with enough light and love to blind you, who would give up arms and legs and hearts to help their precious people. Ace is the opposite. He's rotten to the core._

 _Even after Luffy goes silent, Ace doesn't get to sleep. He doesn't feel worthy of a visit to their tree._

 _He does know one thing; he has the best brothers in the world._

* * *

Fuck it.

A burst of strength washes through Ace like a tidal wave and he slams his heels down, jaw clenched. Izo grinds to a halt and without hesitation, Ace throws his feet up before slamming them backwards in a double kick, throwing them into the gunman's knee caps so hard that Izo's hold on him all but crumbles into nothing. The man falls back with a yell of pain and Ace darts forwards, feet cracking down onto the ice so hard that it starts to break. His knee buckles with every step, swollen and bruised, but Ace carries on. He throws himself forwards with abandon that makes his stomach lurch with momentum, leaving behind Izo and Sabo and Law and everything else as the _East Wind_ grows closer. Hopelessness expands in his chest like an infection. He's too late - he must be. The blaze has consumed everything.

"No! _LUFFY_!"

"Ace!"

A small body collides with Ace's side before he can reach the burning ship, tackling him down onto the ice with such force that he feels something in his already injured knee cap snap. He's stunned for a second, ice burning at his arms and legs, before Luffy's voice fades into his consciousness.

"-being stupid! We gotta get out of here, and we gotta get Sabo!"

Blinking the darkness out of his eyes, Ace tries not to linger too long on how yet another miracle has saved his younger brother from the universe itself. All that matters is that he's actually here. Shoving aside his worry, his urge to fuss over the kid, Ace scoffs slightly and pushes Luffy away gently.

"Once we're out of here, I'm not letting you out of my sight. You get into too much trouble," he teases. Luffy pouts comically but doesn't object, and they smile at each other.

A pained yell in a familiar voice breaks up the exchange, and both brothers' heads snap around just as, thirty feet or so away, Law hits the ground with a yelp. Doflamingo is laughing again, and Luffy shivers, mouth falling open as he catches sight of the figure who threw Law to the ground. They're tall and lean, silhouetted by magma and wearing a fox mask that covers their entire face. But the one thing about them that's utterly unmistakable is their head of wild, blonde hair.

"Sabo...!" Luffy pulls himself up, incredulous gaze fixed on his brother, horror spreading across his face. "That's Sabo!"

"Luffy, Luffy, stay calm!" Ace does his best to stand. "Remember what Law said? About control? We need to defeat Doflamingo to get the mask off, we have to move quickly!"

Luffy still looks dumbfounded and horrified in equal measure, but he forces himself to nod. The brothers take off at a sprint as, up ahead, Sabo slams his foot down on Law's hand. The crack and snap of half a dozen bones breaking is audible even from where they are. Before Law can scramble away, the blonde kicks him hard in the face, sending the older teen rolling backwards across the ground. Ace speeds up. He holds no affection for the guy, but Sabo does - it's got to be killing him to have to do this.

Past Sabo and Law, Ace can see Haley swinging wildly at Doflamingo, the blades on her knuckles flashing in the dim light. Doflamingo is still laughing, and he dodges every slash with infuriating ease. Luffy grinds his teeth together just at the sight of the man, the blood on his face like war paint.

Ace collides with Sabo so hard that both go crashing to the ground, kicking and struggling in a mismatched jumble of limbs. Every move Sabo makes feels alien in his body; his kicks are jerky and slow compared to the smooth movements of the Sabo that Ace knows, but they hold far more power and malice. Every hit is made with deadly precision and Ace soon finds himself on his back, Sabo's masked face an inch from his nose, seeing stars from how hard he hit the ground.

The attempt bought Law some time, however. The second Ace is pinned, a voice yells "Room!" and Sabo is thrown off of Ace with a yell. He flies at Law a second later and they slash and tear at each other's throats, Law trying to get at Sabo with his dagger, Sabo aiming for Law's jugular with his pipe. Ace watches, mesmerised, as they move almost too quickly for the eye to see, every second a hair's breadth closer to being hit, feet barely seeming to touch the ground.

A small hand grabs Ace's shoulder and shakes it, hard. He flinches, coming back to his senses to see Luffy hovering over him with concerned eyes.

"Ace! Are you okay?!"

Coughing, Ace pulls himself to his feet and shoves the younger behind him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. He didn't hit me that hard."

Law is suddenly tossed to the side like a stringless puppet and Ace barely has time to react before Sabo is back at it again, swinging his pipe at his temple and missing by half an inch. Ace retaliates with a low roundhouse kick; Sabo dodges, jabbing his pipe forwards, feinting at the last second to slam his elbow into Ace's jaw. Shocked but not stunned, Ace grabs the outstretched elbow and twists hard, feeling the muscle strain under his fingers. Sabo curses and kicks his injured knee and with a roar, Ace stumbles back.

A split second later they collide yet again. This time, Ace tries to yank the pipe from Sabo's fingers, but it's thrust forward at the last second and comes within a millimetre of his exposed throat. He pushes it to the side and slams his forehead against Sabo's masked one, forcing the other back but almost missing the punch that flies at the side of his head. As Ace dodges, flailing wildly to keep his balance, Sabo backflips away and lands in a crouch, fingertips on the ice, the fox mask giving him the appearance of a feline.

For a moment, they're at a standstill.

Then, Sabo launches himself forwards again and Ace _finally_ picks up on a flaw in his movements. This time, when the metal pipe is swung at Ace's midriff, he grabs it and pulls, using Sabo's own momentum to topple the blonde forwards and pulling the pipe fully into his own hands. He whirls around before Sabo can stand and yells, "Luffy, _now_!"

Using the last of his strength, the small pirate leaps and throws both feet forwards into the pipe, yelling out in triumph as the weapon shatters in the middle. It breaks in two, both pieces edged with jagged metal from the break, and Ace throws them to the ground just as Sabo punches Law in the mouth behind him. Turning around, Ace and Luffy stand side-by-side, facing their weaponless brother.

Sabo suddenly darts forwards once more, quick as lightening, and Ace jumps into the air to get a kick in from above - but to his alarm, Sabo skids right past him. Luffy raises his fists with a snarl but Sabo simply shoves him out of the way too, bending down to pick up both ends of his broken pipe.

Ace's heart drops into his stomach as Sabo holds one in each hand, sharp edges facing outwards, suddenly holding a much deadlier weapon than before.

Feet hitting the ground, Ace sprints for Luffy and just manages to tug the kid out of the way of the jagged points of metal, throwing his arms out to shield him. At the last second, Sabo's aim veers to the side, just clipping Ace's left arm instead of impaling him. Ace takes the opportunity to push Luffy backwards, arm burning and bleeding heavily, before turning around with a heavy sense of hopelessness in his chest even as he raises his fists. Haley isn't winning. Law is down. Marco - whatever the hell happened to him just now - is gone. Sabo won't stop fighting until he's dead, and Ace can't allow that. Not under any circumstances.

Sabo jumps forwards again, and something very strange happens.

A hand grabs Ace's arm and shoves him back roughly, and a body shields his view of Sabo. There's a quick movement, and then a sharp gasp, and by the time Ace has regained his bearings, he can do nothing but stare. Shock floods and immobilises his systems. Luffy lets out a small, choked noise of surprise. Ace's mind refuses to believe it.

Because there's no way that's really _Law_ standing there, with the jagged end of a pipe lodged in his heart.

Doflamingo's laughter increases and Ace's land on him, standing just past Law and Sabo, twisted grin still on his lips. Then, quicker than Ace can process it, those same lips bubble with blood from inside the man's throat. Ace's eyes travel down the hulking man, and come to a halt on the weeping cut across the side of his throat. In front of the man, Haley is visibly panting, fists clenched. Both she and Ace watch as he falls.

A split second later, Law does too. Fox mask gone, Sabo's knees hit the ground beside the man. His face crumples. There are tear tracks on his cheeks, still more moisture clumping his eyelashes together, and the look on his face is so utterly _hopeless_ that Ace's heart breaks.

There are no final words, no goodbyes. Law was gone before he hit the ground.

And now it's Ace who hauls Sabo to his feet, Ace who wraps an arm around the blonde and tugs him hard in the opposite direction, Ace who tries to ignore his pleas- ' _stop, wait! He could still be alive! No, no, we can't just leave him there!_ ' Luffy joins the effort with downcast eyes, sniffing slightly, jaw clenched. Sabo tries to break free of his brothers' combined grip but his movements get weaker and shakier with every passing second and sobs thunder through his frame. Haley stares after them with blank eyes, as if she can still barely believe that she really managed it.

A scream in a familiar voice pierces the sound of battle like a knife. Ace looks up, heart shuddering to a halt in his chest as he sees Marco fall to the ground again, jerking and twitching and howling with agony. Revolutionaries rush in to aid him, panic flooding through the battlefield, but Ace's eyes are fixed on one thing only.

In the rubble of the execution stand, Sengoku is holding Pidge up by the neck, and has just stabbed the bird in the chest.

Ace stumbles to a halt, utterly horrified, and he feels his knees wobble when Sengoku pulls out the pocket knife. Pidge slumps in his hand pathetically. Marco screams again, louder this time, throat hoarse. Ace can't see Sengoku's face from this distance, but his heart constricts like a time bomb as he envisages the cruelty that must be there. The scorn for the life he's throwing away.

Sengoku throws Pidge aside carelessly, and Ace can no longer see anything but the red filling his vision.

* * *

Marco pushes through the crowd of concerned revolutionaries, shoving away their helping hands, head spinning as that horrible pain begins to fade. He knows what that pain is - has felt it before. It's the feeling of a part of yourself being torn away and discarded. It's the pain of losing a daemon. And the only one here is...

The zoan-Gift user breaks through the claustrophobic crowd, finally, and out into the open air. For a second, the world is a mad blur of colour and light around him. Then, Ace's brothers slide into focus in front of his eyes.

They look like hell. Luffy has a deep cut on his face that's weeping blood into his eye and bruises all over his body . His eyes are darker than they were before the battle, filled with something Marco has only ever seen in older fighters, and he clutches the blonde's hand tightly. Said blonde - _Sabo_ , if Marco remembers correctly - has tears on his face and in his bloodshot eyes. He looks utterly defeated, shoulders slumped, face bruised and beaten.

"Where's Ace, yoi?" Marco asks quickly, rushing over to the pair of brothers. Emergency med training sessions flashing through his mind, he tears off a strip of his purple shirt and presses it to the gash on Luffy's face. "Does he know what happened to-"

Sabo's eyes widen and he points past Marco with a shaking hand. "Is that...?"

Ace's yell rings out so loudly that Marco could have sworn that the kid was right beside him. He spins around with a yelp of his own, eyes searching the bay for Ace, still pressing a strip of his shirt against Luffy's face. After a few moments, his eyes finally land on the young revolutionary.

Sabo takes off towards him with a strangled gasp, but Marco can do nothing but stare. Ace is a blazing inferno, skin alight with raging _blue_ fire, pinning Sengoku to the ground by the throat in the rubble of the execution platform. Sengoku tries to push back but before he can, Ace grabs his head in both hands and slams it down onto the concrete, so hard that it cracks and indents. The blue fire creeps down over the man's body and he yells out, trying harder to push Ace off - but it's as if some alien force as taken Ace over. He smashes Sengoku's head into the ground yet again, harder this time, and Marco flinches.

Then, Ace does something Marco with never forget.

The teen seems to hesitate for a second, before reaching a shaking hand out to the side and grabbing a broken piece of wood from the execution platform. Marco knows what's going to happen before he does and turns to stand in front of Luffy (even though he knows that it's illogical - the kid has seen too much in his life already), remembering his age, not wanting him to have to watch another death. The fire spreads further, and Ace tightens his grip on the jagged piece of wood before plunging it down into Sengoku's chest.

Sengoku jerks horribly and suddenly Sabo's there, pulling Ace backwards by the arms, pushing him away from the fleet admiral. Ace goes slack and accepts Sabo's ministrations, letting himself be pushed away with only one final look towards Pidge's body. His eyes are strangely blank, devoid of any emotion. Luffy peaks around Marco's back before running towards his brothers, gait stumbling and sloppy, being swallowed by the smoke that lies between them. Marco takes a step forwards, intending to follow him, when he suddenly hears his father's voice yell out.

"Revolutionaries!"

The whole battlefield freezes at Whitebeard's rumbling voice, heads snapping up, eyes riveted to the same place. The man himself stands strong over the Blackbeard Pirates, broad chest riddled with bullet holes, swords and knives. He looks an inch from toppling like a broken tower, but for now, he stands tall.

"This is my final order to the Revolutionary Army!" he rumbles. As it always has, his voice seems to shake the world right down to the core. "The one we came to rescue is safe! Go to the Baratie, and escape with your lives!"

Yells of protest, denial and fear break out - none of the revolutionaries, including Marco, can believe it.

"Once you've all escaped..." When Whitebeard speaks again, Marco can hear the grin in his voice. "I'm going to finish what we started."

Pain stabs through Marco's chest at the thought of leaving his father, every instinct he has screaming out at him not to do it, but he shoves them to the back of his mind. If this really is Oyaji's last wish, then he needs to carry it out to the best of his ability. He needs to forgo being a good son for being an order-obeying revolutionary.

"You heard him - pull back, yoi!" he yells, turning the attention of the masses onto him. "Commanders, direct your divisions to the Baratie." He raises his voice further still, and this time, he's confident in his words. "This war is over!"

The revolutionaries fly into action just as a small hoard of people stumble past Marco, pulling each other along, bloodied and hunched over. At first, his eyes pass over them and he assumes that they're revolutionaries. But then, the Phoenix does a double-take.

"Nami, yoi?" he asks in alarm. The girl, leaning heavily on a one-armed blonde, turns hopeless eyes towards him. The strawhats look awful. The blonde man's face is grey with pain; the long nosed sniper is clutching a broken arm; the skeleton has a huge crack in his skull; the cyborg has wires sticking jaggedly out of his slashed chest, the small reindeer unconscious in his arms; Nami herself has had most of her long, luscious hair shorn off, and blood and bruises all over her. "Are all of you heading for the Baratie, yoi?"

Nami nods weakly. Her eyes look suspiciously wet. "Do you know if Luffy's okay?" she asks desperately, "He wasn't on the _East Wind_ when it...?"

Marco nods hurriedly. "He's with his brothers. They should be okay, yoi."

Nodding with relief, Nami turns back towards her crew and they start off again, footsteps dragging as their mismatched shapes disappear into the smoke. Marco turns back around and starts shepherding revolutionaries, trying not to look at the form of Whitebeard. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the three brothers stumbling towards the Baratie, clutching each other, trying to stay upright.

Turning away, he prays that they'll be alright.

* * *

Sabo curses every deity he knows, curses himself, curses Ace and Luffy and Marco and everybody else. Most of all, however, he curses their horrifically bad luck. Because there's no way that's really _Akainu_ standing in front of them, blocking their way to the Baratie.

There's no way they're going to be alright.

Ace tries to lunge forwards, growling low in his throat, but doesn't manage to make it more than a few stuttering steps. All of Luffy's strength is gone, so he's out for the count. Sabo doubts that he could do much more than distract or antagonise the admiral, too. They're utterly hopeless, and Ace apparently knows it.

"Sabo! Luffy! Run!" he calls. Sabo exhales sharply through his nose, scowling.

"No, we're not leaving you!" Luffy replies stubbornly. His voice leaves no room for argument.

Sabo raises an eyebrow, however, when Ace turns his face towards them and gives a very small wink.

"Just go!" he yells again, in that same overly-tortured tone, and that's when he says to Sabo only, _There's an AANGEL ship to our left. It's pretty small, we should be able to sail it. He's never going to let us to the Baratie, so we can meet up with it later, once we've passed the Fringe. For now, just go to that ship; I'll be there soon!_

 _...Alright_ , Sabo agrees haltingly. _Don't die on us_.

 _Not planning on it!_

Ace shuts off the communication and jumps at Akainu, that same blue fire dancing around him. Sabo doesn't hesitate to turn, hauling Luffy over his shoulder, immediately spotting the single undestroyed AANGEL ship just past the icy bay. Luffy yells and growls, trying to escape his brother's grasp, but there's a new resolve in Sabo's step; they're all going to get out of here. All three of them.

Sabo pushes past some revolutionaries, not looking back even as he feels heat on his back. By the time he reaches the AANGEL ship, his legs feel close to giving out. He places Luffy as gently as he can on the deck, hand shaking, and fumbles with the rope as he raises anchor. All he needs to do it wait for Ace and unfurl the sails, and then they're gone. The wind is in their favour.

Turning towards the battlefield again, Sabo's eyes search out his brother, but they don't find him. Just as he's about to panic, a figure lunges for the boat and Ace lands, sprawled on the deck, yelling, "Go, go, go!"

Sabo unfurls the sails and twists the rudder in a smooth movement, turning the ship, face breaking into a grin as the wind catches the sails. Akainu is still on the ice, looking around with a scowl on his face, evidently searching for where his prey disappeared too. He's not going to find them.

He wants to carry on adjusting the ship, watching Akainu, doing the half a million things that need doing; however, before he can, Sabo's legs give out. He lands beside Ace, who's already got a lap full of Luffy, and bonelessly allows himself to be tugged into the embrace. He feels Ace's breathing in his hair, Luffy's cheek against his chest, and revels in it as the sounds of battle slowly fade into the silence of the ocean. Above, the sky slowly begins to lighten as the cloud of thick smoke fades.

None of them release each other for a long time. Sabo doesn't realise that there are tears running down his face until they're being wiped away and he's being squeezed tighter still, sandwiched between the two people who love him most in the world, finally with everything that he's wished for for four years.

He grins into Luffy's hair.

* * *

 **Escape! Whoop!**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 45, Aug 9:**

 ** _Son. I'm done.  
I'm more ded inside than needed  
Update~_**

 **Ahhh but you're not** ** _really_** **done right? Hehehe, see you in the reviews of this chapter ;)  
hopefully this chapter helped bring you back to life!  
Thanks for the review, ilysm!**

 **Guest, Chapter 45, Aug 9:**

 ** _Things just turned from worse to horrible. No Sabo!_**

 **Yeah, poor sab! I feel so bad for hurting him D:  
thank you so much for reviewing! **

**7, Chapter 45, Aug 9:**

 ** _Man I love how much you update. I know this isn't fair to ask since your are the undisputed king of updates but please update quickly I can't deal with this mess of emotions you keep leaving me with. Every time I think their going to be okay and marginally happy something horrible happens to them. Now poor Sabo lost his dad, Ace is fading fast and Luffy is not in good shape even if he got off the boat. What happened to not leaving them again ACE! Man doflamingo is so scary and he killed Zoro and i'm sure Ace vs Sabo is bound to be very emotional. Plus isn't Sabo keeping Ace alive? So this cannot be a plus for them. Anywho I really like your story even if it keeps hurting my heart._**

 **I'm so sorry for how long this one took! The one chap with the biggest cliffhanger, and I take nearly a week :"D I'm sorry!  
poor sabo, I know! I feel so bad for all the shit ive put him through. And yeah, ace you idiot PROTECT YOUR BROS  
yep, ace v sabo was probably my favourite fight to write in this entire fic, actually! I hope it flowed relatively well.  
exactly! That makes it even sadder!  
anyway, thank you so so so so much for the review, ily!**

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 45, Aug 9:**

 ** _LEE WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS SO FUCKING INTENSE GOD DAMMIT MY BOY IS HURT AND CAPTURED AND EVERYONE IS HURTING AND ASDFGHJKL DON'T YOU DARE UPDATE FOR AT LEAST A WEEK YOU NEED TO SLEEP AND TAKE OF YOURSELF FOR FUCK'S SAKE_**

 **AHAHAHAHAHA  
ZOE I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS SO GODDAMN MUCH HOLY SHIT  
HOPEFULLY THIS CHAPTER HEALED YOUR HEART  
ALSO IT'S BEEN A LITTLE UNDER A WEEK BUT FUCK YOUR RULES  
ILY **

**ariririsu, Chapter 45, Aug 10:**

 ** _,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,if uCKIN G AHTE YOU SO MUC J YOU GDOD D AMN WITCH  
LISTEN  
SU CK M YA SS_**

 **This is probably the best review ive ever gotten. I want to print it and put it on my wall  
ilysm~**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 45, Aug 10:**

 ** _nope nope nope 100x nope_**

 **= a brief summary of Strays**

 **YJV, Chapter 45, Aug 10**

 ** _Woooo! Things are like, crumbling down one after another. Omg, Sabo's being controlled. TwT also, when is Sabo gonna kick Doflamingo's ass? I believe you said that was a thing? And it kinda sounds like he wasn't really being totally controlled back there. There's still hope, right?_**

 **Heyoooo!  
yep, shit is going down! And sorry to say but the scene where Sabo beats down doffy got taken out, cause it didn't fit the plot. I still have it in my drafts though, if anybody wants to read it!  
ooh no, there's definitely no hope left. :)  
ily! Thank you so much for the review!**

 **Guest, Chapter 45, Aug 10:**

 ** _Oh my... I can't even, Ace and Jake caught in that attack, Marco accepting that Whitebeard won't make it, Sabo controlled by Doflamingo, I wonder if he'll fight Law or Ace first? Can't wait for more *ily*_**

 **Yeah, the story's really going nuts! And this chapter just escalated it even more. I feel like a really cruel author but OH WELL  
thank you very very much for the review! *ily more***

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 45, Aug 10:**

 ** _I had the feeling something like this was going to happen.._**

 **And you were very right!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 45, Aug 11:**

 ** _nu-uh no more stop why this no not like not okay sabo no ace no luffy no everyone just chill doffy suck a duck and die thank you good day there is nothing okay with this pain from above from below from hell this is hell im dying everyone's dying  
HELP_**

 **I tried to read this whole review out to my gf without taking breath and ended up dying with laughter, so thank you v much for this I love you  
I STILL CANT STOP LAUGHING ASDFGHRDSJVK **


	47. BONUS CHAPTER - A Softer World

**Oneshot - A Softer World**

 **Prompt from anon: what if the timeline had continued as predicted, and Luffy was never born? Strays!Universe.**

 **NOTICE: this chapter is a oneshot about Sabo and Ace in a universe where Luffy, the fluke in the timeline, was never born. A world where the prophecy actually comes true. Note that events and dates will be changed**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 47 –** **BONUS CHAPTER** **– A Softer World**

* * *

The street is utterly devoid of any distinct sound, aside from the dripping of rainwater through the gutters. It's just after a storm and the rain is gone, but in its place is a horribly tense stillness. The world hangs on the edge of wakefulness, light starting to seep through the cracks in the clouds, and Ace moves quickly. He's learnt by now that unless you want to die, that's the only way to get around. Move quickly. Don't make noise.

Ahead, a half-collapsed building heaves under the weight of the storm, looking seconds from crumbling under its own mass. Ace, ten years old, picks his way towards it on nimble feet, absently dodging jagged planks of wood with grace that suggests that he's used to moving like this. His feet make no sound on the wet paving stones. He's painfully aware of his surroundings, ready to scramble at the smallest hint of danger, hood pulled up over his head. It's too big for him, and even though it's pulled so low that if covers his eyes, it still bunches up at the bottom.

The front door of the house is crumbled and the wall around it is torn and cracked, and Ace jumps up to grab the top of the doorframe in a manner that suggests that he's done this multiple times before. Clambering up onto the top of the bent door, Ace balances precariously for a second before taking a flying leap towards the upper floor window, stretching out his legs in front of him. He slips through smoothly, rolling when he hits the floor inside, and stands steadily after a few seconds. His hood falls back, and the face beneath it is young and thin.

"Sabo?" Ace calls to the empty room. Dull, grey sunlight seeps through the cracks in the grimy walls. He speaks with a strange lilt in his tone, as if he still hasn't completely mastered speech and isn't quite confident in his ability to perform it.

"Ace?" says a weak voice in reply, barely audible from deeper in the house.

Ace takes off, still silent on his feet, grey eyes flooded with concern. The floorboards are weak under him, decaying and rotting and filled with holes, but he's too light to make them cave in. The landing outside the first room is badly lit, light barely creeping in, and he feels his way along it until he reaches the second bedroom, just across the hallway.

Inside the room, it's slightly lighter. An indistinct beam of light falls across the mottled mattress in the centre of the room, lighting up the small form curled up on it, and Ace approaches slowly.

"Sabo? Feeling?"

His speech is stuttering and soft, but there all the same, and the other kid smiles up at him weakly. His face is flushed and feverish under his blonde curls. "I'm okay," Sabo says quietly, trying and failing to push himself up. Ace sits beside him, shoulders hunched, and brushes back his sweaty blonde hair gently.

"You are hungry?"

Sabo is so used to the botched speech by now that he doesn't comment on it. "I'm okay, all I'm doing is sitting around. Please say you've eaten?"

Ace looks away guiltily, and Sabo grabs the hand that's brushing through his hair and digs his fingernails slightly into the skin. His nails are bitten almost down to the quick, but Ace still winces.

"You need to take care of yourself, Ace," Sabo frowns. "Seriously. It's important."

Ace shrugs slightly. "You take care." He struggles with his words for a second. "Y-You take care for me."

Sabo sighs, trying once again to sit up. He shifts his leg wrong and winces, but perseveres on until he's finally on eye-level with his brother. "I'm not enough. You're the one who works so hard to support us, so you should be the priority here!"

Eyes flashing, Ace crosses his arms. "Not important," he says stubbornly.

"Yes, you _are_ important." Sabo's voice is fierce, and when he reaches out to grab onto Ace's arm, the black-haired boy holds onto his wrist tightly.

Things have been like this for a long time. When you only have one person in the world, you tend to develop a secret language that only you understand. It doesn't even have to be comprised of words; Sabo and Ace's certainly isn't. Ace has only known how to speak for a year or so, since Sabo first began to teach him, and is still shaky on it. Sabo knows how to speak, but doesn't use it to convey what's really important - not when a touch on the wrist can mean concern, a raised eyebrow can mean curiosity, a slight twitch of the fingers can mean playfulness and a light hand in the hair can mean affection. Between Sabo and Ace, words simply aren't needed sometimes.

Sabo sighs and pushes himself up further, letting Ace grasp his wrist and using the offered support to keep himself upright. "Alright, today's the day," he says with determination, as he does every day. "I'm going to walk again today."

Ace's face is downcast but he says nothing, only trailing his hand down to grasp Sabo's own as the boy tries to shift towards the edge of the bed. A burst of strength rips through the blonde and for a second, he pushes himself up and prepares to slip off the bed, feet an inch from the floor. Ace's heart lifts, Sabo pushes himself from the bed, and...

He hits the floor with a gasp of pain, legs buckling. Ace's own knees make contact with the floor a split second later, and he's frantically concerned as he fusses around the other, pulling him back up onto the bed, feeling along his knobbly, bruised legs for any signs of damage. Sabo stares forwards blankly as he's manhandled, eyes wet.

His legs have been out of commission since an incident a few months ago, with a collapsing building and not enough time to get out and heavy rubble covering him and _pain_. Since then, it's been Ace doing the dirty work - Ace getting the food, Ace working his fingers to the bone, Ace doing everything within his power to protect Sabo while he himself sits around, useless. Every time Ace leaves to scavenge for food, Sabo fears internally that this might be the time that he doesn't come back. And every day, Sabo tries and fails to stand. His legs are shattered, discoloured and skinny - worthless. Just like everything else about him.

"Bo?" Ace asks, with his unusual accent and stunted syllables. "You are alright?"

Sabo draws a sharp, shaky breath and fights back against the tears in his eyes. "Yeah, Ace." He clenches the hand holding his own tighter. "I'm alright."

( _he's really not_ )

* * *

 _Log Entry"883  
_ _11 years, 5 months._

 _I managed to walk five steps today - I was still leaning on Ace, but it's progress. Life's getting better! I've noticed that his speech is improving, too; he can say full sentences without a stutter now, even if his grammar isn't much to be desired. Soon, when my legs are all better, I'll be able to scavenge with him like I did before the incident. He said that I'm the one who takes care of him, and I want to stay true to that. I won't be useless anymore._

 _The world outside is getting worse, though. Blackbeard is holding public shootings. You can hear the gunshots from here. This city is his base, and he rarely leaves it. The only people fighting him are a few 'pirates', but they're all weak and he throws them to the side like they're nothing. Ace won't say anything because he's an idiot like that but I can tell that he's really really really scared. I am too, but I guess I'm an idiot like him because I'm not going to tell him anything. It'll just make him sad, I think._

 _I'm worried. About Ace, about the world, about everything. But especially Ace. He walks past the hanging grounds every day when he goes to the trash heap, and it makes his eyes go all sad when I mention it and he keeps telling me that he's okay but I know he's not because everything but his words is always sad. He comes home with black eyes and his lip split and I patch him up but he never tells me what happened. One time, he came home with his clothes all torn and he didn't stop crying for hours, but he wouldn't tell me what happened and I think that's the thing that's really scaring me. I don't want anybody else to hurt Ace. He's just a kid._

 _The marks on the backs of our necks always feel warm nowadays. Ace told me last night that it feels like there's something under his skin. Waiting._

 _Signing off,_  
 _P.D.S_

* * *

Ace remembers the day he met Sabo, as clearly as if it were yesterday. He was nine, and Blackbeard hadn't invaded yet. It was a dark time for Ace. He never spoke - never learnt how. The only sounds that came from his mouth were grunts and gasps and wordless yells, and the world felt like it was slipping past him, communicating in a language that he simply didn't understand. The bandits were long gone. There was nobody left in the world that gave a damn - Ace doubted that they'd cared at all anyway - and that was the way it stayed until Sabo came into his life.

Sabo arrived on a wet day, soaked to the skin and having just escaped a slave trader ship. Apparently, he was taken from his home in the west - a family who loved him - and only managed to slip the guards at Edgetown. He met Ace under a bridge, sopping wet and shaking, and was the first person Ace could remember who actually didn't look at him with disdain; who extended a hand and spoke in a voice that wasn't laced with malice.

Their friendship grew slowly. Sabo spoke a lot at first, so much that his voice became hoarse at the end of every day, and Ace listened with rapt attention even though he couldn't understand a word of it. Being close to the other felt _right_ somehow, like the world always wanted them to be together. For almost a year, they fought hard together, thundering through the city streets like hurricanes, ruling the concrete jungle and being wary of the lions and tigers that were its people. Ace picked up words slowly, speaking with such self-consciousness that it was almost like he didnt want anybody to hear them, but as time went by, language became more natural.

Life got harder when their hideout collapsed, trapping Sabo under the rubble, crushing his legs. The responsibility of both of their lives fell heavy on Ace's shoulders like a ten-tonne weight, and suddenly he had something entirely new to live for. Sabo was bedridden for months, weak and unable to stand, the bones in his legs shattered. It took a whole year before he was able to even take a few steps, and a few more months after that before he could walk confidently on his own. Even that was with a painfully obvious limp, and Ace didn't let him join him scavenging until he was positive that his adoptive brother would be okay.

And that leads them, of course, to now. The first time Sabo's ventured out into the world outside of their new hideout in a year. His pupils contract rapidly in the morning sun as he steps out, skin painfully pale, scrawny and shivering in the cold of the day.

"You are sure you want do this?" Ace says carefully, trying to keep his voice level even as the syllables jumble in his mouth. "We can turn back."

Sabo squares his shoulders, taking a deep breath. His legs are shaking. "Don't worry, I'm fine!" His voice cracks.

Ace can't find the words to express what he's thinking so he just nods, tightening his hand around Sabo's. "This way."

They walk in silence for a few minutes. Sabo's bloodshot eyes take in everything as they pass, drinking in the sight of the city he hasn't seen for so long. Every minute or so, he stumbles and falls, legs still a little too weak to hold him up. Ace makes sure he's alway there to catch him, and when hostile eyes meet the pair from every side, he stands over his weaker, smaller brother like a fiercely protective guardian. Unease curls in both of their chests, but they walk on regardless, sticking to the shadows. Just as always, Ace makes no noise, and doesn't meet anybody's eyes.

Suddenly, as they cross onto a new street, Ace yanks Sabo to the side. They skirt the wall now, hands still clenched around the other's, and Ace moves so quickly now that Sabo stumbles and falls time and time again, trying desperately not to make a sound.

"This is it," Ace says lowly. "Hanging ground."

Sabo inhales sharply but doesn't say anything, just nodding mutely and staring forwards. At the end of the street they're on, he can vaguely make out an opening onto a square. The hanging grounds. An area dedicated to the execution of criminals - who are often not criminals at all. The system is messed up, Sabo knows that all too well. If you're truly a criminal in Edgetown, you don't get caught.

The brothers trek just a little further, and as they approach, Sabo can feel himself shaking. The smell is the first thing that hits him - grotesque and overwhelming, it nearly forces him to stop. It smells vaguely like something decayed. Something that's been left on its own for so long that barely resembles what it was in the first place. Dread rises up inside Sabo like an uncontrollable tide but he forces down the bile in his throat, trying to keep his eyes on the floor as the square finally comes into view.

But of course, he can't help but look up. A second after he does, he freezes, regretting it instantly. Ace's grip tightens painfully on his hand. The smell grows overwhelming and Sabo gags, turning away, desperate not to see anymore even though he knows that the image is burned into his irises.

Ace holds his overgrown hair back as he throws up, on his knees at the entrance to the square, hands covered in dirt just from holding himself up. Sabo heaves uncontrollably, tears springing up in his eyes, body turned away from the open square. His vomit hits the ground and runs sluggishly into a half-clogged drain, and he feels his eyelids drooping. Arms fold around him gently, trying to offer some semblance of comfort in their own private language, but Sabo can barely feel them over the pounding of his own heart.

"Watch it, brat!"

Before Sabo can react, a foot swings into his side, knocking the air out of his lungs. He hits the ground hard and rolls three times, skin scraped raw. He lands curled up on himself, a choked noise of pain that doesn't sound like it's his own tearing from him, side aching and burning like fire. The smell fills his nose, and all he can feel is the pain in his side and the rough ground beneath his cheek.

In front of Sabo, Ace growls like a wild animal, fists coming up as his face twists into an inhuman snarl. He lunges at the man who kicked Sabo like a small, scrawny tiger, yelling and growling and scrambling to get a good hit in. The twelve-year old swears that for a second, he can physically feel the other's rage.

Ace hits the ground beside Sabo like a rag doll, spitting out blood viciously, trying to stand even as he clutches his ribs with pain. He barks something that Sabo can't understand, sounding nothing like any human he's ever met, and attacks again with reckless abandon. There's a horrible 'crunch' and Sabo whimpers, trying to raise his head, entire body aching. Ace hits the ground again, the back of his head cracking down on the concrete, and this time he doesn't get back up.

The man who kicked Sabo scoffs at the pair in disdain as the blonde grabs his unconscious companion and holds him tightly, face screwed up wth anguish, side aching sharply like poison. Sabo watches his back as he leaves, uncaring of what he's left behind.

"Ace?" Sabo sniffs, shaking his brother's shoulders, hold his head in his lap. "Come on, Ace, please, just- just wake up. _Please_."

Slowly, Ace's eyes flutter open, glassy and unseeing. "Bo?"

Sabo's face breaks with relief, and he pushes Ace's hair back off his face. "Are you okay?" He holds up a hand in front of Ace's dazed face, asking, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Ace blinks rapidly, grey eyes glassy, flitting back and forth like hummingbirds. Then, staring upwards at nothing, he says something that makes Sabo's blood freeze in his veins.

"Can't see. Can't see...!" He chokes back his own panic but Sabo can hear it, can feel his anguish as if it's his own. Ace tries to sit up but sways, eyes still darting. He's shaking all over. "Can't- can't s-see-"

"Shh, shh," Sabo tries desperately, not wanting to attract unwanted attention, heart pounding madly. He holds Ace tightly, trying to calm him down. All it does is make the preteen even more panicked.

Ace tries to stumble to his feet, eyes wide and discoloured, but falls hard. It's only Sabo that cushions his fall. "Can't see, can't see, can't see!"

"Ace, please just listen to me!" Sabo looks around desperately, taking in the looks occasional passers by are shooting them. Nobody stops to help. "I need you to calm down!"

He rests a hand on Ace's wrist, fingertips tapping a trail along the crook of his thumb, a gentle but familiar touch. Ace freezes, blind eyes squeezed closed, and relaxes ever so slightly. Almost on reflex, he slumps, tension leaving his shoulders. Even if he was deaf, this language would still be able to speak louder than words to him.

"Are you okay?" asks Sabo in a shaky voice. He whispers, "Please don't shout again."

"I can't see," Ace whispers. "Why?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure we can fix it! The back of your head controls sight, right? So it should... It should come back, right?" The false cheeriness in Sabo's voice breaks when his voice cracks audibly. His arms tighten around Ace and they sit for a second, silent in the middle of the road, clutching each other.

"Scared." Ace coughs, struggling to find the words, eyes squeezed closed. "I'm scared."

Sabo buries his face in the crook of the other's neck. "Me too," he whispers.

* * *

 _Log Entry"1575  
_ _13 years, 6 months._

 _It's been a year now. I'd like to say that Ace is dealing with the loss of sight well, but I'd be lying. He still leaves the house to scavenge with me, but I do the bulk of the work now, and he's always terrified that he'll hurt me somehow now that he can't see. It's changing him. He talks less, and his stutter's back. Not being able to see is making him paranoid and scared and I don't know what to do._

 _Enough with the self-pity. I've probably mentioned this, but my legs are getting better a lot now. I can run a little bit, and walking is easy. I just need to rebuild strength, and be gentle, even though that's hard. And Ace can see colours a little bit - or at least, he can see shadows. It's good news! Maybe soon, his sight will come back and he'll be okay again. I really want my Ace back, not this Ace. He says he doesn't even remember what I look like anymore._

 _Not much more to update. Blackbeard is still an asspig. The hideout is still standing, but I'm getting worried. Stormy season is coming, so it might not last much longer. Ace still wants to leave the island - it's obvious. He really wants to be free. But my legs and his eyes and... everything. With all that, it's really, really hard._

 _Signing off,_  
 _P.D.S_

* * *

They discover their Gift on the night the hideout finally collapses.

Sabo and Ace's fourteenth has just passed, which they celebrated with stolen treats from the bakery, sitting on the roof of the hideout as Sabo pointed out the constellations that Ace couldn't see. On the night of the collapse, the storm outside howls up and down the streets, screaming and shoving at houses violently. They huddle together near the front door, freezing cold, flinching every time the house groans and heaves. Sabo wonders for the umpteenth time whether this will be the storm that finally makes their hideout crumble.

Ace shudders. "Need to get out," he mutters, through chattering teeth.

"I know, I know," Sabo replies. Above, the ceiling is leaking dust. "But the door doesn't open, we need to go to the upper floor windo-"

A chunk of wooden ceiling breaks off and falls hard, hitting the ground barely a few feet away, littered with tiles from the roof. Sabo curses and grabs his brother's arm. Cold air rushes through the house like a curse as he yells, "Let's go!"

Ace allows himself to be pulled towards the stairs, blind eyes darting wildly, and they stumble up them as yet more rubble begins to fall. Sabo can feel his breath coming thick and fast in his lungs as he remembers the last time he was in a situation like this and he speeds up with the thought of it, tugging Ace along with abandon. His legs burn, but he pushes aside the pain.

They reach the landing, and Sabo can feel the floorboards shaking under his feet. The brothers make their way across the hall, Ace feeling his away along the wall, Sabo watching out for cracks and holes in the floor. The wind picks up, lashing against the walls with a vengeance, and they pick up their pace. The room with the window is only a foot or so away when it happens.

The house collapses in on itself.

Something hits Sabo's back hard and his vision goes black. When consciousness finally returns an indefinite amount of time later, he can still hear the rain. For a second, he doesn't open his eyes, simply letting his senses wander. He can feel the ground beneath his cheek and knows that he's lying flat on the ground, arms splayed out at his sides. It's cold, almost unbearably so. Slowly, he opens his eyes.

Ace's worried face swims into view, forehead tight with tension, eyes wide and filled with anxiety. Sabo mumbles his name disorientatedly, but it's muffled against the other's shirt as he's dragged into a hug. He can feel Ace shaking slightly. Whether with the cold or with emotion, he doesn't know.

"Thought you would not wake," Ace tells him simply once they've pulled apart, face loose with pure relief. "Worried." His speech sounds more unsure and stunted than usual, probably with panic.

Sabo tries to sit up, still unsure of what's happening, but the top of his head hits wood before he can move up a few inches. For the first time, he glances around - and immediately feels panic flood his systems. He and Ace are both squeezed into a tiny alcove, surrounded by collapsed wood and pieces of rubble, pushed together by the planks of broken wood that make up their tiny refuge. There's dust all over Ace and he's clutching his left arm, but aside from that, he seems alright. The fear in his eyes is raw and real.

"How long has it been?" Trying not to let claustrophobia take over, Sabo lies back down cautiously.

"Minutes," Ace replies. "Not long."

The pair sit in silence for a second, and Sabo tries to push away the panic flickering like a flame inside him. Since the first time this happened, and then spending a year cooped up in a dark room, claustrophobia has been a big issue for Sabo. This is no exception. His breathing comes quick no matter how much he tries to slow it, knowing that he's using precious oxygen.

"We need to get out...!" he manages to gasp out, closing his eyes for a few seconds.

Ace winces, glancing around. "How?"

"I don't- I don't know! Just p-please, please, can we-"

Sabo's panic mounts and suddenly, the whole world explodes.

* * *

 _Log Entry"1758_

 _14 years, 0 months._

 _I don't know what's happening._

 _The hideout is gone. I barely managed to rescue this book, and half of the pages are burnt out. The older log books are gone. Ace is unconscious. I don't know what to do._

 _I should start from the beginning. Okay. Three days ago, there was a bad storm and we ended up trapped in the hideout after it collapsed. I panicked and I was trying to get out and Ace was trying to calm me down and then- I don't know what happened, but the next thing I knew, me and Ace were sitting in the rubble, and everything that had been trapping us was burning around us. And I thought, sure, it was good..._

 _But Ace was burnt. Really bad. There's a big burn over his right eye, and some more over his right side, and the guy I managed to convince to tend to his wounds (a kid called Law) said that he's going to have the scars for a long time. He told me that the fire might have been a Gift, but didn't ask if either of us had one, obviously he didn't want to invade our privacy. He was a good person, in a weird way. But last night, he kicked us out. Ace still hasn't woken, we're alone and I don't know where to go._

 _If our Gift really is fire, then I hope to god that it never hurts Ace again. Right now, it doesn't seem like a 'gift' at all._

 _Signing off,_  
 _P.D.S_

* * *

The brothers decide to leave the island on their fifteenth birthday. It's a quiet morning, still and strangely anticipatory, and they creep through the streets with the same fear that's engrained in everybody here. In the bag over Sabo's shoulder is his latest log book, two pencils, a pouch of dried meat and a few other meagre possessions. In Ace's bag is more food, a few hundred beri and a change of clothes for both he and Sabo. They don't talk as the sun rises, moving in perfect synchronisation through the streets they used to rule. The burn scar over Ace's eye stands out staunchly in the pale light.

Things didn't get better like Sabo always said they would, but they didn't get much worse. After the fire incident, Ace recovered within a month, and the scars didn't bother him in the slightest - especially considering the fact that he couldn't see them. His vision never came back fully, but as of their time of leaving, he can at least see vague colours and shadows. Sabo's legs are healed to the point where he can run with relative ease, but on bad days, the limp is still obvious. Climbing is another issue, and stairs can be a problem. But, as he often tells Ace, at least they're alive.

The pair of adoptive brothers reach the harbour and the boat they had planned to steal and move quickly and quietly, unloading their supplies into the hollow of the boat, untying it and grabbing two pairs of oars. Sabo hands Ace a pair and dutifully twists them in his hands so they're facing the right way - in return, Ace helps Sabo lower himself into the boat when his legs shake with the strain. For a second, before they push off, Sabo stares at Edgetown in all its grimy, dusty glory.

"It looks different?" Ace asks quietly.

After a moment, Sabo shakes his head slightly. "Not at all," he answers.

* * *

Marco scowls at the two figures near the fence, striding towards them with the full intention of berating them harshly for being so close to the quarantined zone, but freezes when he gets close enough to see them clearly. They're facing away from him, around the same height and build, both with tanned skin that Marco can tell even from this distance is covered with scars. The one with black hair is shirtless, and his torso is streaked with burns like sloppily applied paint. The blonde wears a black jacket and a blue top hat, and something about his stance tells Marco that he knows that he's there.

Slowly, as Marco watches with wide eyes, the black-haired one turns to look right at him with pale, blind eyes.

"Who are you, yoi?" he demands, taking a confident step forwards, trying to portray that he's not going to tolerate intruders on the island. "What's your business here?"

The blonde puts a hand on the other's arm and steps forwards. There's a lilt in his gait that Marco notices immediately.

"My name is Sabo," he says clearly. "Me and my brother have been looking for you for a long time."

It's only then that Marco notices the tiny, blue daemon buried in the shirtless one's hair.

* * *

"Those kids are going to shake up the world, Marco," Newgate murmurs as Sabo andAce disappear out of the doors, flaming with anger and indignance. They're angry - understandably so - after hearing the revolutionaries' reasons for not providing aid in the east. Their powers seems especially fitting now.

"Let's hope they come back," Marco replies simply, not alluding what he's thinking.

* * *

They don't come back.

* * *

 _Log Entry"3371_

 _18 years, 5 months._

 _We left AANGEL's hideout yesterday. Ace is glad we did and, honestly, so am I. They're like the revolutionaries. They care about the big picture, but not about the little people - not about the ones at the bottom. They don't care about what they have to step on to get to the top._

 _Dragon warned us before we left that there's a war coming. A big one. In all honesty, both me and Ace have been expecting it for a while. It was only a matter of time before it all blew up. As long as my brother get out alive, then the rest of the world can burn for all I care. Ace feels the same. It's been nearly 10 years since we met, and we're still everything the other has. No matter what my biological father told me before I left, there's only one member of my family._

 _Signing off,_  
 _P.D.S_

* * *

At twenty years old, Sabo is at the end of his tether.

He's seen injustice. Laid eyes on the worst acts in the world. He's stared death in the face more times than he can count, he knows that humanity is an ugly thing. Most of the time, he feels as though his brother is the only thing he has. He's lived through some seriously messed-up stuff, but this takes the cake.

"This is the last time I'm going to ask nicely," he says in a cold voice. "Let him go."

Ace struggles weakly at the sound of his voice, but the blood running down his forehead and the lump at his hairline tell Sabo that he's probably utterly disorientated right now. The hand around his throat tightens and Akainu laughs, voice low and unsettling, holding Sabo's brother so his toes barely brush the ground. It's the first time Sabo has ever seen him show anything but anger and stone-cold stoicism.

"In the name of justice..." Akainu brings his other hand up and grasps the top of Ace's head between his fingers. "I won't."

Sabo yells out and runs forwards, knowing that he's too far away, suddenly able to see exactly what's going to happen before it does. He lunges the last couple of feet, pipe out in front of him, screaming out in rage and fear, but-

He's too late.

Akainu twists the hand holding Ace's head hard to the side, almost at a ninety degree angle. There's a sharp, horrible crack as his neck breaks.

The admiral drops his body and it falls like a stone right into Sabo's arms, head at an unnatural tilt, lolling in the blonde's grasp. And only then do the revolutionaries rush in - only then does the battle speed back up. Only then does Akainu get pushed back.

It's too late. It's too late.

Sabo lets Ace drop from his arms. His body is cold. The fire that was Portgas D. Ace is gone. It feels like now, that fire has been transferred into his veins - it flows through Sabo's bloodstream like a drug, setting his insides aflame. Around the grief, through the stinging of harsh tears in his eyes, it's the only thing Sabo can feel.

He feels no remorse as the flames burst free from inside him, exploding in all directions, shattering the world into pieces with light and heat. Screams break out, distorted by fire, and he can feel Ace surrounding him, running through him, pulsing along with his heartbeat. The rage doesn't fade, scorching and roaring along with the flames, as fire destroys everything within reach; blind and insane, it thunders over the ocean, destroying everything within its grasp.

* * *

Sabo cries, and the world burns.

* * *

 **Since I didn't get many review s last chap, im going to leave the replies until the next one – sorry!**

 **Till next time!**


	48. 4 - Our Ocean

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.**

 **YOU CAN SEE ART FOR THIS AT-**

 **strays-fic dot tumblr dot com**

 **this is the last chapter left before the epilogue! Aaaah!**

* * *

 **Chapter 48 – Our Ocean**

* * *

The deck of the Baratie is complete and utter chaos.

Marco tries to block it out, tries to focus on the aches and pains in his body, but he can't get the invasive noise to go away. The wooden deck beneath him is hard and unforgiving, and the railing feels hot against his back. Even with the sensations assaulting him and the stinging and throbbing of various wounds littering him from the battle, there's one thing that drowns out it all. The noises.

Scattered around the deck, revolutionaries sit and lie in various states of consciousness. Marco can hear them clearly; he can even recognise some voices. He can hear them talking quietly, and can't stop himself from hearing the agonised cries that rip through their ranks - the groans and moans of pain, the sobs at loosing brothers and sisters and, for all of them, a _father_.

The last part hasn't hit Marco fully yet, and he isn't looking forward to when it does. Marineford isn't completely out of sight yet, and he tries not to look as the sound of distant screams rips through the air, and a rumbling, thundering roar breaks apart the skies themselves. Today is the day that Marineford is razed to the depths for good. Marco doesn't like to think about what that means for the single revolutionary, monstrously strong though he may be, left on the island.

The noises grow louder. With shaking hands, knowing that it's something he has to do now that Whitebeard can't, Marco reaches into his pocket and pulls out a den-den mushi. He clicks it on and mutters, "Call back the reinforcements. It's too late now."

"What do you mean?!" replies an indignant voice, "We've got eyes on the island! We can be there in ten minutes!"

"It's too late," Marco repeats forcefully.

After a moment of silence, the person on the other end sighs. "Alright. Alright, fine. What should we do with... well, our weapons?"

The word 'weapons' means more than that and both of them know it. Marco takes a deep breath, and makes one of the hardest decisions he's had to make for a very, very long time.

"Throw them into the sea," he replies. "You know how it affects them. Those things need to be buried for good." Out of the corner of his eye, Marco watches Marineford fall. "The war is over. All of it."

There's a sharp intake of breath from the other end, before the other revolutionary nods. "Aye, Aye, commander."

The den-den clicks off, and Marco is left alone with the noises once more. Hesitatingly, he glances around the crowded deck. There are medics everywhere - AANGEL doctors, revolutionary medics, a few first-aiders from the Baratie and a single doctor from the _East Wind_. Marco sees the usual battle wounds - gashes, scrapes and bruises - but more horrific wounds too, like magma burns the size of dinner plates, missing limbs and surely incurable frostbite from Aokiji. Shanks' head is in his hands across the deck, and Marco realises suddenly that he must think that the three brothers died in the explosion of the _East Wind_.

Nerves churning in his stomach, Marco stands. He has to lean heavily on the railing as pain flares through his body. It was a ruthless battle, in every way possible. Waving off a medic who tries to help him walk, the revolutionary stumbles across the deck until he's standing over Shanks.

It takes the man a few seconds to look up and when he does, his eyes are bloodshot and hopeless. Marco tries to ignore the way his heart clenches at the look on his face.

"What do you want, Marco?" he asks tiredly.

"The brothers didn't die in the explosion, yoi," Marco says quickly. "Ace and Sabo were already off the East Wind, and one of the revolutionaries rescued Luffy. They should all be on the ship-"

"But they're not, are they?"

Marco freezes. There's something dangerous in Shanks' eyes - something he hasn't seen there for decades. "What do you mean, yoi?" he croaks.

"I _mean_ ," Shanks growls, "The last time I saw them, they were being cornered by Akainu. You're a little behind the times. Luffy's crew are mourning already. There's no way the three of them survived."

A pit opens up in Marco's stomach, and it feels like his heart falls down into it. Shanks points to his left, mouth a thin, grim line, and Shanks follows his gaze until his eyes fall on the Strawhats. They're huddled together across the deck, sitting in a heap at the foot of one of the masts. Even from here, Marco can see the tears in Nami's eyes, and the blank horror that fills the cook's. The cyborg has his head buried in his hands. The reindeer is sobbing in earnest.

 _They think their captain is dead_ , Marco realises. It only hits him after a second that Luffy _really is._

"Are you happy now?" Shanks demands. When Marco turns to face him, his mouth pulls into an even harsher line. "It's all well and good when your pawns die in the fight for 'freedom', but it's not as fun when it's your father, is it?" Something in his face breaks. "It's not as fun when it's an innocent fifteen-year old."

"You think I haven't lost anybody to the cause, yoi?" Marco replies icily.

"Stop with all this bullshit about the 'cause'!" Shanks explodes, "Why don't you just admit that you don't care?! All you ever wanted to do was impress your father, and look where that got you!" He gestures around frantically, a hopeless look on his face. "Look where that got _us_! My sons are _dead_!"

"He's _our_ father, yoi!" Marco doesn't know what he's arguing for anymore; there's a tide of emotion rising up in him that he can't stop.

" _Was_!"

The tide breaks and Marco stumbles backwards. Oyaji's face flashes before his eyes, crinkled with laughter, sun-drenched and familiar. Ace's follows a split-second later, young and filled with an uncertain kind of affection. Something inside him snaps like a rubber band.

Shanks, oblivious to all of this, carries on in a venomous voice. "Those three boys were my kids. I took care of them, _I_ was there for them before the army even knew they existed! I wasn't the best father, but-" He sniffs bitterly. "But I tried. And they were all I really cared about, especially after leaving you and our pops."

"And now they're gone, yoi," Marco murmurs. He doesn't intend for the words to harm, but Shanks' face flashes with pain.

"They were just kids," Shanks says brokenly. All the poison that filled his voice evaporates. "They didn't do anything to deserve that."

Marco suddenly feels like he's going to be sick; with a choked gasp, he lunges for the railing and throws up everything in his stomach into the ocean. Bile burns and tears at his throat. He heaves again, stomach rolling, and doesn't realise that Shanks' hand is rubbing his back until he's finished vomiting. They meet eyes - their father's brown into their mother's blue. For a second, Shanks' eyes hold something close to forgiveness.

Then, however, they flit upwards and over Marco's head. His brow, scarred and tanned, furrows.

"There are two ships approaching!" he calls to the deck at large.

* * *

Ace closes his eyes against the sunlight, flat on his back, surrounded by two warm bodies. There's a hand wrapped around each of his own and he doesn't bother to find out who they belong to. Sabo's breathing moves in sync with his own, heartbeat pounding the exact same rhythm, and Luffy's is only a split-second behind. Nobody speaks, but nothing needs to be said. Sighing, Ace pulls them closer, but pauses when he realises something.

Sitting up, the revolutionary dislodges Luffy and looks around. The ocean surrounding the trio of brothers is framed by the broad, orange sunset. It's hard to believe that only a few hours ago, Ace was being tugged out of his cell to kneel on the execution platform, resigned to his fate. So much has happened since then that it feels like a million years ago.

Stretching, he says casually, "We're lost."

Sabo groans into the deck, though it sounds contented rather than pained. "Let us be lost. I'm not moving for at least three days."

Luffy lets out a whine that sounds like an agreement, hand reaching out to tug Ace back towards them. They have no medical supplies so even though it's unsanitary, strips of Sabo's shirt have been wrapped around the deep cut on the fifteen-year old's face in an attempt to stop the bleeding. They do nothing to make him look any less pale, and Sabo doesn't look much better.

"Yeah, well, it's a miracle you haven't passed out yet," Ace shoots back. Despite this, he allows himself to be pulled back into the pile, immediately feeling Luffy make a home between his arms and Sabo bury his face in his hair. Both of them are so dopey after the battle that this is all they've been doing for however long they've been sailing - a long time, at any rate. Ace doesn't have the heart to complain. At least this is helping to distract him from the gaping hole in his heart where Oyaji, Haruta and Pidge used to be.

After an indefinite amount of time, Sabo finally sits up. "Okay, okay," he says slowly. "I guess we need to talk."

Looking like he wants to complain but restraining himself, Luffy nods. He shifts with a wince to plop himself down across from his brothers, so they form a messy triangle. "What are we gonna talk about?"

Ace takes a deep breath. "A lot has happened over the last four years, and I don't think any of us know everything that's happened. So why don't we try to explain it?"

Sabo and Luffy exchange dubious looks, but nod all the same. "Okay..." Sabo says hesitantly. "Luffy, do you want to go first...?"

The younger teen crosses his arms and uncrosses them, then folds his legs in before stretching them out. He glances from Sabo to Ace and back again, before nodding slowly.

"Alright," he says. "Well, I guess you guys know that they took me because they thought I was you, right? I had the mark on my neck that day? Yeah, they tried to get me to own up to what my Gift was for a while. And that sucked. And then-"

"Wait, wait," Ace interrupts, "'Tried to get you to own up'? What do you mean?"

Luffy tenses visibly, and his brothers exchange worried looks. Reaching out a cautious hand, Sabo asks, "Lu?"

"Sorry, I just- I-" The young pirate sniffs. "They wanted me to tell them that I had a fire Gift and I didn't want to tell them 'cause it wasn't true, so they turned off all the lights and suddenly it just really _really_ hurt and I didn't know what to do, no matter what I couldn't get away, and it went on and on and-" Luffy looks up, and the look on his face makes Ace's heart shatter. "I really wanted to see you two, and I couldn't. And it just carried on and it didn't stop and it feels like it still hasn't stopped, they just wouldn't stop..."

All of his energy seems to leave him in an instant. Face half-hidden by bandages, Luffy ducks his head and lets himself be pulled into two embraces, not looking up, entire body shaking. It's obvious to Ace that he's never told anybody about that. Sabo turns to Ace and his eyes burn like hot embers, rageful and full of pure determination, flaming with a promise to never let it happen again. Ace nods back, though it feels like his own fire has been doused by ice-cold water, regret flooding him that he was never even able to be there for Luffy after it happened - that it took four years for them to have this talk.

Luffy pulls away, swiping at the tears in his eyes, and sets his jaw. Sitting back (not too far back, though), Sabo asks softly, "How long did it take until they let you out?"

"A month, I think," responds Luffy. His expression lifts. "There was a woman called Robin who gave me food a lot, and when I was going north, she joined my crew! She's great, and really smart. She was being stupid when she left, but we're going to get her back so you don't need to worry about that."

Sabo and Ace exchange fond looks, both starting to smile once again as the mood on the ship lifts. "Whatever you say," Ace replies, leaning back. "So, once they let you out, what happened?"

"A bunch o' stuff," Luffy summarises eloquently. "They found out that I've got this special blood type and poked me with a bunch of needles until I became rubber." He holds out his scarred forearms, where the pale, speckled scars of forcefully given injections stand out in the sunlight. "And after that, I ended up joining the marines!"

"You were forced too, I'm guessing?" Ace asks.

"Yeah. But I found my two best friends there! Sanji and Zo-"

Luffy's face falls in a split second, moving from happily reminiscent to a face that makes it obvious that he's trying very hard not to cry.

"Sanji and Zoro," he mutters. "Yeah. So we finally managed to get away a few months ago, and me and my crew - they're amazing, by the way - travelled north. We met up with Shanks on the way, and he told me about you two having this weird mental-link-thingy. And by the time we got to the revs' HQ, you were gone, and we found out the next morning that you were going to be executed, and-" Luffy shifts slightly. "I guess that's it."

Ace nods. He knows that there's probably far more to the story, but decides not to push. There'll be time to talk - days, weeks, maybe even years to talk after this. They're together. There's no timebomb hanging over their heads anymore.

Sabo, however, apparently notices something that he doesn't. "That's all okay, but..." He reaches out and holds Luffy's wrist, and Ace's jaw drops as he notices what should have been glaringly obvious. "How did you lose these?"

The scar tissue covering the area where two of Luffy's fingers should be shines like raw skin in the sunlight. The other three look out of place without their counterparts. The scar tissue looks relatively aged - a year at most, he would guess, maybe less. Ace can't tear his eyes from them, and he can feel the shock spread across his face without permission.

Pulling his hand back, Luffy fiddles with the brim of his hat and says, "When we were going to cross the Fringe a few months back, our ship was firebombed by a revolutionary plane. And that... that wasn't all that fun either, I guess." He looks up and quickly extends his hands out in front of him, shaking his head rapidly at the growing horror on both Sabo's and Ace's faces. "It's fine, honestly! My chef lost a whole arm, so I guess I was lucky."

"I wouldn't call losing two fingers 'lucky'!" Ace explodes, "Why did they bomb you?! I know our pilots, they wouldn't do it for no reason! They're good people! I-" His voice breaks off, choked and constricted. "I _made_ those bombs. They weren't even authorised for use, they weren't... Why would they use them on you?!"

Sabo inhales sharply. "Ace, calm down-"

"We stole a marine ship," Luffy rushes out. "They saw us when we docked at their island. But we all got out, and that's all that matters. Can we please just move on?"

At some point during their talk, the trio have shifted closer together again. Sabo pulls the other two towards him and they don't protest, one looking sorrowful, the other filled with regret and self-loathing. The blonde flicks the latter's forehead lightly and says, "Stop that. It wasn't your fault that you made the bombs. End of conversation, okay?"

Slowly but surely, Ace nods. "Okay." He doesn't look convinced, but it's a start.

Luffy claps, face growing more cheerful against the blue of Sabo's shirt sleeve. "Okay, so you got my story. What about you, Ace?"

Slightly more sombrely, Sabo says, "Yeah, how did you end up surviving? And what's the...?" He points wordlessly to Ace's ice-filled chest.

Ace takes a deep breath, and begins to talk. He tells his brothers about searching for the revolutionaries, joining their family, spending years as a member of their ranks. He tells them about Leo, and how much he'd looked up to him, and then about the experience of losing squad 4. He tells them especially about Marco and Thatch and Izo and Scarlet and Oyaji, about the family he found in his brothers' absence, about learning what being a revolutionary really was.

Then, his tone grows darker as he explains how Sabo disappeared. He speaks in a hoarse voice about his breakdown, not meeting Sabo's eyes, before muttering vaguely about breaking out with Pidge and travelling south. He skips over the lonely nights and constant anxiety, and the empty feeling in his chest that lasted for months, blotting out most of the story up until he started meeting Garp.

"He said he was connected to me and my brothers," Ace says. "I met up with him once and he didn't tell me anything useful, but even though I was suspicious, I turned up a second time. That's when he betrayed me. I took the drink he offered and the next minute I was waking up in a cell."

"And then came your execution?"

"Yeah," Ace confirms grimly.

He goes on, voice scratchy and rough with so much talking, skimming over most of the events of the battle. He knows all too well that none of them want to relive all that so soon. He only starts to speak once again in detail when he describes falling through nothing into a world filled with white, seeing himself and Luffy, hearing thousands of voices from his past so loud that they deafened him and then finally seeing Leo again. Then, finally, comes the complicated part; the timeline.

"He said that... The world Roger predicted was different from this one," explains Ace in a halting voice. "Roger never predicted that Shanks was going to be born, so when he was, it changed the entire timeline. When Luffy was born, it made it even more different. In the world where they never existed, it was just me and you, Sabo. According to him, in that timeline, we end up destroying the entire world."

"Jesus..." Sabo murmurs. He lets Luffy shift closer to him willingly. Ace can tell from his expression that the concept of a world without Luffy scares him just as much as it does Ace.

"He told me that I would have a chance to come back, because of what my mother did and how it connected us. Now, my life force is tied to yours," Ace says. "When you die, so do I. And when I do..."

Luffy tips his head to the side. "What is it?"

Ace coughs. "Since I was already on the other side for a little while, I can't go back. At least, not to that place. When I die, the only place I've got left to go is down."

Sabo les his head fall back, eyes closed as he holds back a grimace. Immediately, Ace regrets telling them. The looks on their faces are somewhere between horror and regret and disbelief. He hates it.

"Whatever," Luffy says suddenly. Ace stares. "I mean, heaven's meant to where you're happiest, right? Well, I know that me and Sabo's heaven would be being with you, so when we all die, we'll still be together! Right?" He says it all so plainly that it's almost as if he thinks it should have been obvious.

Jaw slack, Ace doesn't realise that the tears have started until they drip off his chin. He tries to speak, but nothing close to words comes out. Smiling, Luffy lets himself be pulled against a bruised chest and Ace cries until his body shakes with the force of his heaving sobs, choked wails slipping from him that sound nothing like his own voice. The whole world comes crashing down on his shoulders as it finally hits him; his father, his best friend, his surrogate younger sister as well as dozens of Revolutionaries - they're all gone. Each and every one of them, dead.

And now, even though it's all over, the world seems almost surreal. The sun is too bright on the water, its reflection blurred by the stinging tears that leak from his eyes, and it feels so _real_ to sit here and hold them both after so many months of yearning for it. It feels different from Ace's dreams of it, more raw and more painful and ten times more true than anything he could have imagined. It hurts, but Ace knows for sure that what's happening right now is completely and utterly real. He hates himself for thinking it, but he wouldn't change a thing.

Tears make his eyes red and puffy and it gets to the point where, as his sobs starts to tail off, he barely knows what he's crying about anymore.

When Ace finally pulls away, his bones themselves feel infected with fatigue. He can feel his eyelids fluttering with exhaustion and wonders when the last time he slept was - at least two days ago, considering how he didn't sleep for a few days in preparation for his execution. Once again, it all has the sensation of being a million years ago. Physically and emotionally exhausted, tiredness crashes upon him like a wave.

Sabo has a small smile on his face and Ace's head is rested on his leg before he can process having moved. Against his will, he feels his eyes begin to close, still blurred by happy tears.

"Go to sleep, Ace," Luffy says, lying down so he's leaning back against Ace's chest.

"Yeah," Sabo agrees. His voice is slightly sad. "We all need it."

"G'night," Ace slurs, voice rough. Sabo responds, but he can't make out the words around the darkness that overtakes his vision. He passes out, and the world dissolves into the nothingness of a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 _Sabo stares into the inky blackness of the room. His skin craves the warmth of sunlight - uninsulated and fragile, this building is freezing cold - and even now, his legs sting and tingle like they're being filled with hundreds of tiny splinters. He yearns for Ace's return, as he does every day, and stares up at the ceiling with a constant creeping paranoia that it may fall. If the collapse of their first hideout destroyed his ability to walk, another collapse similar may just steal his life. More than anything, he is scared. Scared of this helplessness. Scared that he's never going to be able to walk again. Nowadays, it feels like he's afraid of his own damn shadow._

 _The scene morphs into something new. Ace is being thrown to the ground, limp and lifeless, and when his eyes open they are sightless and discoloured. The world is cruel - Sabo knows that, now - but why it has to be so cruel to_ _ **Ace**_ _, he doesn't know. Ace is his whole world. And now he's sobbing and shaking, unable to see, small hands scraped up by the rough ground. The world really is a cruel place._

 _Once again, the scene changes; this time, the hideout is collapsing around them as they stumble through the dark, one blind and one lame, desperately reaching for the exit. A second later, the world closes in on them - then, they're running out of oxygen, cramped into one tiny space, and Sabo is panicking and hyperventilating and he feels his fire rush up under his skin. A few short seconds later, everything - including a screaming Ace - is burning_.

 _They leave the island and while Sabo is filled with elation at the wide, brave new world that stretches before them, he can't help but acknowledge the burning apprehension that churns like a storm inside him. The ocean is wild and free, but Ace is blind and he's practically crippled, and both metaphorically and literally, they have to clutch each other just to get by and carry on standing tall. Sabo prays that that beautiful, fierce world won't take away the only thing he has. He prays that it will keep Ace safe._

 _They meet the revolutionaries and they leave again a few days later, Ace fuming and flaming. The world changes; it grows an uglier and a darker place everyday. Years pass, and they continue to clutch each other, and Sabo continues to pray that today won't be the day when the cruel world snuffs out Ace's flame._

 _Ace's body drops like a stone._

 _The world burns, Sabo sobs-_

Sabo lurches awake, breathing heavily, his frantic movements making the boat rock beneath him. For a few seconds he doesn't know where he is, still wrapped up in the world that that nightmare manifested. Luffy shifts, whining slightly as his movement disturbs him. Ace sleeps on, but there's a tension in his frame and his face that tells Sabo what's going to happen before it does. When Ace jolts awake, flying upwards and dislodging Luffy's head from his chest, Sabo catches the younger boy's head before it can hit the floor and lowers it down gently.

"Sabo?" Ace asks, voice slightly frantic. "What was- and I-" He coughs, suddenly bashful. "Uh. S-Sorry, I just had a nightmare."

Tilting his head slightly, Sabo decides to throw caution to the wind. "In your dream... Were you blind?"

Ace goes very, very still. "...How did you know about that?"

"Because I think I just had the same dream," Sabo replies, trying to keep his voice level. He can feel his heartbeat, _Ace's_ heartbeat, tearing away rapidly in his chest.

"You...you did?" Ace stares, before sighing. "You know what, crazier things have happened. 'specially to us."

"I can't disagree with that." Sabo curls in on himself slightly. It's cold. "It was so real..." he murmurs.

Ace nods, pulling Luffy back onto his chest as he re-settles himself against Sabo. The sky above them is a rich midnight blue, punctured by the stars that he hasn't seen in what feels like years. "The last thing I remember is hands around my neck, and then- nothing." He shudders.

"Akainu snapped your neck," replies Sabo dully. "And then there was fire - everywhere, covering everything, and I couldn't stop it. Ace- Ace, I think I destroyed the world."

A single distinct thought resounds from Ace's head to Sabo's; **_his sons will bring the world to its knees_**.

 _Do you think...that dream, do you think it was about the way things were supposed to be_? Ace asks. The familiarity of using the bond to communicate soothes Sabo's frayed nerves.

 _No_ , Sabo replies fiercely, _Not the way things are 'supposed to be'. The way things could have been, maybe, but not the way they were meant to be. This world is better. This world, the one where Luffy is out little brother-_

 _And how do we even know that this world is real?_

Ace's question chills Sabo to the core, and he feels himself go rigid.

 _The timeline was never meant to go wrong - there was never meant to be a fluke. So why was there? How can we be sure that this is even happening? How can we know that Luffy really exists? If the world is really out to kill him then how can we know, how can we know for_ _ **sure**_ _, that it won't kill him at any minute?! Sabo, all of this is insane, it's completely-_

 _Stop it._

Ace has never heard Sabo sound so demanding - and, quite honestly, Sabo never has either - and his thoughts silence in an instant.

 _Listen to me. Who cares if the world was meant to be different? Who cares if we're meant to be dead? Since when do we care about the world?! Since when do any of us give a damn about what the world thinks we should do_?! Sabo's voice is strong and utterly sure of its words. _All that matters is that all three of us are here - right here, right now - and that all of us are alive. That's it. End of discussion, got it?_

Slowly, Ace nods. His heartbeat slows. Sabo can feel his raging thoughts slow. "Thanks, Sab," he says quietly.

"It's been years since you called me that," Sabo replies, a smile in his voice.

Above them, slowly, the sky begins to lighten to a pale, streaky grey. Sabo checks the compass built into the wheel, just to make sure that they're headed vaguely south. They're in luck, as the wind appears to still be on their side. The pair of brothers watch the sky for a while as it lightens lazily, and Sabo soon becomes acutely aware of the blood that covers him, caked in his clothes and hair.

It's close to dawn. A little under twenty-four hours ago, he and Law hugged on the deck of the Baratie and promised to remember one another should one of them die. Law is gone now. It's hard to take. Harder than Sabo could have ever imagined.

But at least, every time Sabo looks at Ace and Luffy - his fated brother and the accidental child who was never meant to exist - it gets a little easier.

* * *

HQ feels empty. Even though it's more full than ever before, offering refuge to the agents of AANGEL and all the other injured rescuers, the hallways ring with loss. Izo has never been a perceptive man, always blunt and utterly down-to-earth despite what some might derive from his appearance, but he doesn't need to be an empath to feel the grief that echoes through the corridors. It resides inside him, too, tearing at his insides like a knife every time somebody mentions the three brothers or the name 'Edward Newgate'.

 _They're gone_ , his brain tells him, _move on. Moping will do nothing for them._

But the stern self-reprimand that never fails to reassure him does nothing more than intensify the ache in his chest. He sits outside of the main doors, cleaning his guns for the fifth time in this shift and trying not to listen to the sounds of sorrow coming from the main hall, where the survivors - and the bodies of the dead that they managed to scavenge - are gathered. The mourning strawhats. Blank-eyed Shanks and his sorrowful crew. The dejected, lost agents of AANGEL who were betrayed by the organisation that was their entire world. The now fatherless revolutionaries, who have won the war but lost so much more.

It's been a week since the battle. The bruises haven't faded. It's hard enough to walk and breathe that Izo suspects multiple broken bones, but for now they will have to remain unattended to. There are too many wounded and not enough medics, and he doesn't want to add to the pressure.

He senses a familiar presence behind him a second before Marco sits down at his side. His blonde hair is matted and dishevelled, sticking up stiffly in every direction, and like Izo, he's coated with bruises and scrapes that have yet to fade. His lip is split and caked with dried blood that he has yet to wipe away. In simple terms, he's a mess, and it's painfully obvious.

"Evening, Izo, yoi," he murmurs. His voice is rough and crackling.

Izo stares across at him for a moment, before sighing and putting down his guns. "When was the last time you slept?" he says sternly.

"...Before the execution, yoi," Marco replies quietly. "It's been busy."

With a sigh of exasperation that he doesn't really mean, Izo reaches into the pouch at his side and pulls out a pack of tissues and a brush. "Turn around. If you're not going to sleep, at least let me clean you up."

Marco looks like he wants to argue, but holds himself back. Under the darkened sky, Izo brushes his dirty hair back into some semblance of order, movements firm but not forceful. Neither of them speaks. Once the gunsman is satisfied with his friend's hair, he moves onto swiping away the blood and grime, carefully skirting around the bruises.

After a while, the movements become so soothing that Marco's eyes begin to flutter closed. Izo watches as he obviously tries to keep himself awake, failing in most aspects, body physically drooping. When his head finally falls, Izo lowers him gently to the ground and stands, leaving the exhausted first-division commander sleeping on the steps as he moves to peak into the main hall.

Inside, the air is musty and thick. Izo's eyes land on his father's abandoned seat almost instinctively. Even though the entire hall is packed to the brim, the empty throne has been given a wide berth. It gathers dust in the centre of the room, untouched, standing tall over the heads and shoulders of hundreds of survivors.

Next, Izo's gaze reaches the Strawhats. The red-haired navigator is sleeping, her head on the shoulder of a girl with blue hair and bandages all the way up her arms. It's one of the people who was on the ship that met them half way; the surviving residents of Kaira, which was blown up a few days before the execution. Izo is thankful that some survived, especially since the young, ragtag crew obviously know them. It's the first time he's seen them all week when most of them aren't crying, though the tiny doctor still looks teary.

Shanks and his crew are gathered around their first mate, who still hasn't woken. Mihawk, one of the more pesky Foxes, split him open from hip to throat. It's still not certain that he's ever going to open his eyes. Shanks looks utterly broken, and the bodies of five of his men lie under sheets a few feet from Benn's bed. Yasopp is holding the charred wheel of their burnt ship. For the few seconds Izo watches them, none of the remaining crew move from their positions.

The agents of AANGEL are huddled in a solitary corner, piled together against the wall, barricading themselves from the rest of the room. They tend to their own wounded, grieve for their own dead... but every time Izo sees them, they've extended further into the room. They reach out tentatively more and more with time, it's plain to see; Izo just hopes that the Revolutionary Army is willing to let them. The gunsman can see one of them, an angel tattoo on her tanned forearm, talking to Scarlet near the edge of their unofficial territory boundary. Hopefully that boundary will fall soon.

And finally, the revolutionaries. They mill throughout the hall, all of them shoved into one huge room, and hammocks have been slung up through the room from the slats of the ceiling. Nearly all of them are taken by injured division members. Commanders are dotted through the room too, most of them looking just as tired and devastated as Marco.

With a sigh, Izo turns away, closing the door behind him. He sits back down beside Marco and leans back, picking up his guns again. He's about to start cleaning them again, fingers moving into a familiar position, when his ears pick up on a familiar sound.

Multiple pairs of footsteps, moving up the street towards them.

Slowly, his fingers move again until his finger is hovering over the trigger. In a swift movement, he flicks off the safety on his pistol and stands, moving to place himself in front of his passed-out friend with a small frown. He stays perfectly still, knowing that neither he nor Marco are visible, and waits.

Two figures round the corner at the end of the street. One of them appears to be holding a large load on their back, as their figure is distorted and grows larger at the top. The other is visibly limping, even from this distance. They move slowly and every few seconds they pause, as if exhausted.

Izo raises his gun, cocks it and fires two warning shots into the wall beside him. The noise from inside the hall silences immediately, and both approaching figures freeze up. Marco jolts awake.

"Who are you?" Izo calls into the dark.

Somebody responds, "Izo?"

The voice that speaks is so impossible, so painfully familiar that Izo freezes up. His finger slips off the trigger and he lets the pistol fall to his side. It nearly drops from his grasp. Marco inhales sharply, eyes blowing wide.

"Izo, is that you?" the voice yells again. It sounds closer this time, and Izo realises that the pair have started walking again, forms indistinct against the inky blackness. A few quick seconds slip by, before Portgas D. Ace - in all of his beat-up, bloodied glory - steps into Izo's view.

* * *

Ace finally gets a moment to breathe nearly three hours after arriving. Nobody seems to care that he's exhausted, or that he aches all over, or even that he just wants nothing more than his brothers and a good sleep; all they seem to care about is asking thousands of questions, or shaking his hand, or hugging him and telling him that they're glad he's okay. Ace accepts the handshakes willingly, lets himself be talked hoarse by the injured, shares grief over the dead. He barely manages to escape a fifth hug from Shanks before he even gets to look around, taking in the packed hall, the huddles of injured and lines of dead.

Luffy is being utterly encompassed by his crew, most of whom are crying. The small reindeer is sitting on his shoulders, looking half asleep and somewhere between shock and tears, and his scrapes are being tended to by _Vivi_ of all people, the girl Ace knew all that time ago. His hair is being ruffled almost constantly by the overemotional cyborg. Nobody appears to have commented on his injured face yet.

Ace's eyes seek out Sabo in the crowd. It takes him a moment to find him but when he does, his face softens. The blonde is leaning against the wall near the entrance, looking down, completely alone. Aside from Shanks (who he managed to evade pretty quickly), he doesn't have anybody here to reunite with. Ace slips through the crowd quickly, trying not to draw attention to himself.

When he reaches the blonde, Sabo looks up and smiles slightly, shifting to the side to let the other stand beside him. Neither of them speaks for a second, both looking over at Luffy with smiles on their faces. Ace feels warm just by looking at their interaction, but at the same time... Luffy is going to need medical attention soon. Especially for the huge gash on his face.

The journey here was hard, but at least it's over now. Ace's heart hurts a little less than it did before, healed by the presences of his two very favourite people, and he can tell that the same applies to Sabo and Luffy, too. All three of them need time to heal, yet, but they've already begun the process.

"Is it really over?" Sabo whispers, not looking at Ace.

"It is," replies Ace simply.

* * *

Three days later, the sun shines brightly for the first time in weeks.

It feels symbolic, Ace acknowledges, as he and his brothers clamber onto the roof. Luffy is finally out of bed, the huge new scar on his face still raw and red against his skin, as cheerful as always. Sabo has been awake for a while now, and the new scars on his own face no longer draw Ace's eyes; he's growing used to them, at least. He himself feels more alive, more _human_ than he has in a long time.

When they reach the roof, they settle in a familiar order; Sabo on the outside, the human heater that is Portgas D. Ace in the middle and Luffy on his other side. They face the sun and for while, nobody speaks. They're content to be in one another's presences, and that's enough.

Eventually, however, Sabo asks the question that's on all of their minds.

"What now?"

The question is spoken quietly, but it resounds between them with astounding gravity, shattering the silence like a forhorn. Ace stares out towards the ocean wordlessly for a few seconds, letting the words ring out between them, before saying, "I'm staying with Marco. We have a lot to do. The war's over, but the fight isn't – not yet, anyways. I can't abandon the army now."

Sabo looks like he wants to protest, mouth opening, but he closes it a second later. "I think I want to find out more about my dad," he says. "Who he was, why he was so desperate to find me. I guess… It just feels like something I need to do. After that, I have no idea. I just want to be free, I think. Maybe I'll come back here."

"I want to be with my crew," Luffy murmurs into Ace's shoulder. "Even though we haven't… we haven't got Zoro…" His voice hardens. "Even if we've lost stuff, we're still a family."

"I don't want to leave you two," Sabo says quietly.

"Me neither," agrees Luffy. His voice is slightly let-down.

Ace takes a deep breath, chest tight, and says the thing he knows his brothers need to hear. The thing he knows, deep down, is true.

"Things are shitty right now. Yeah. They really suck and they're not going to get better." Another deep breath. "And none of us are okay. But if we spend the rest of our lives clinging to the past, we won't _live_. And isn't that what Shanks wants us to do? Isn't that what _we_ want to do?"

Sabo and Luffy stay silent, the former emotionless, the latter looking down at his lap in which his hands are shaking.

"I want to stay with you," Ace continues, "But I have a dream. And Sabo, you've got a goal. And Lu… Well, you've got nowhere in particular to go, and you love that, don't you? So while I want to stay with you two for the rest of our lives, I know that we have to chase those dreams. Starting from today, I'm going to chase mine. But this time…" His face hardens. "This time, we won't say goodbye. Not for good. We'll meet up whenever we want to, and I'll always have your backs, alright?"

"I'll always have yours," Sabo murmurs, shifting closer to Ace. Through the bond and outside of it, his pure affection is tangible, and Ace basks in it just as Luffy presses into his other side.

"Nobody's gonna hurt Ace and Sabo again," their youngest says with a growl in his voice. Ace glances down at him, eyes sad, taking in the huge, jagged scar that now crosses his face. Fifteen years old. And he's already lost everything more times than Ace can count.

He's not losing anything else.

"Of course I'm not," Luffy murmurs into his brother's shoulder, making him realise with a jolt that he said that out loud. Sabo snickers, and then Luffy giggles, and soon all three are howling with laughter, clinging to each other just to make sure they don't fall off the roof, shoulders shaking and stomachs aching as they fall back and laugh under the sun. Eventually, after all of them have forgotten what they were laughing about in the first place, faces sore from their wide smiles, lying in a tangle of tanned limbs beneath the burning sky.

But soon, however, it has to end. When the sun begins to set, the three brothers stand. The next ship out of Revolutionary Headquarters is due to leave at dusk, and on it will be Ace's brothers. Luffy and his crew are headed to Shanks' archipelago to get a new ship, and then to the south. Their archaeologist was captured by a rogue marine division – CP9 – who are still going strong. Luffy claims that he doesn't need help in rescuing her from where they're holed up, in a stronghold known as Enies Lobby. Sabo is going first to AANGEL's headquarters, just off the Fringe. He wants to learn more about himself, more about the world, and Ace is willing to support him with that no matter what.

The black-haired teen himself is staying at HQ with Marco. There's a lot of work to be done, and he's not going to leave it all to rest on Marco's shoulders, especially considering how stressed he is right now. The man has been through enough. The trio leave the roof behind, still partially wrapped around one another as they descend through HQ, Ace waving to all of the revs he sees. Most who notice him look relieved at his recovery, waving back with smiles on their bruised and scarred faces.

They're on the second floor when it happens.

Marco comes hurtling around the corner and nearly slams straight into Sabo, breathing deeply with panic in his eyes. He meets Ace's gaze for a split second just as shouts begin to break out from the floors below. "We've just had intel that one of the remaining marines wasn't ready to give up, yoi. He's talking about planting a-"

A scream rings out from below, of panic rather than pain. "Everybody get out! Move, move, move!"

"A what?!" Ace grabs Marco's shoulders.

"A bomb, as far as we-"

As soon as Marco said the word 'bomb' Ace was gone, flying up the corridor and towards the stairs. There are still people on the upper floors. Sabo and Luffy run after him with shouts of panic, grabbing at his arms and clothes in a desperate attempt to hold him back, but Ace pulls out of their grasp. He's taken enough from the Revolutionary Army. This is the least he can do. He rounds another corner, heart pounding, blood rushing in his ears, and hears it-

 _Tick. Tick. Tick._

The bomb is attached to the wall, a mess of wires tied around a sleek, metallic frame. And the number on the countdown attached to the front makes Ace's heart stop in his chest. Sabo yells, Luffy grabs Ace and _pulls_ , Marco curses vehemently and yells something at the brothers. Ace turns almost in slow motion.

 _Three._

They aren't going to make it. They aren't going to make it .

Ace braces himself for death, now.

A minute ago, they were all so happy. The war is won. They're chasing their dreams - so why now? Is the universe finally done with them? Is this its way of bringing _their_ world to its knees?

 _Two._

Ace thinks fast. His hand closes around the cloth over Luffy's shoulder, red vibrant against his palm. The other hand grips Sabo. Beyond them, he can see the empty corridor they just came up. Freedom.

Marco yells something again. Ace thinks about how blue the sky was outside.

 _One._

Using every ounce of strength in his body, feeling his muscles burning, Ace throws his brothers forwards into Marco and all three go flying - at least five feet. They skid on the floor, choking back their panic, and Ace wonders whether he'll be able to smell smoke. Do bombs smoke?

Luffy turns, makes eye contact with Ace, opens his mouth to scream.

Ace mouths, 'I love you!'

 _Zero._

* * *

 **The longest chapter ive ever written for this! ahh!**

 **YJV, Chapter 46, Aug 15:**

 ** _And you said there was no hope XD at least they are escaping, but you and O both know even their escape will be difficult. Question: is the prophecy still a thing? Or has it all gone down the drain from Luffy's messing?_**

 **Hey! No, the prophecy is no longer a thing!  
or is it?**

 **Guest, Chapter 46, Aug 15:**

 ** _if you listen closely, very faintly you can heAR ME SCREAMING BECAUSE IM HAPPY THEY GOT OUT BUT L aW IS DEAD. my heart is not meant for this type of stress goodbye world_**

 **HEYOOO  
yeah, he's DEAD D: hella dead  
but at least theyre okay now! Ish  
thanks for the reviewwww ily!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 46, Aug 16:**

 ** _oh look like all my children are dead this is fine this is okay i can live with this alright okay jk no i'm leaving i'd give you my still beating heart in exchange for some kind of happiness but that's not a thing anymore that ship as sailed so long bye happiness here just take every other organ i have I'm dead inside anyways now might as well be dead outside to this is cool yep alright bye  
But at least my three little angels are alright (relatively speaking they're probably bleeding out which is a whole other world of 'cool this is happening') so yay one little hope in the world that I pray to god you don't rip away from us please don't they're too pure_**

 **THIS ENTIRE REVIEW HAS ME CRYING WITH LAUGHTER AHAHHA  
yeah yeah, theyre all dead and hurt and crying and im fucking evil but hey, I mean…  
I cant come up with an excuse jfc  
ily!**

 **Guest, Chapter 46, Aug 16:**

 ** _You're very very welcome and thanks for this great chapter. So many feels, Law and Pidge are gone but at least the three brothers are alright and Doflamingo is also out, now if we could have some moments of calm so they can meet up with the rest it would be great but something tells me that would be too easy... *hugs*_**

 **Hey my favourite reviewer!  
im glad you liked the chapter! Yeah, the bros are free! Finally! It took long enough jfc 40+ chapters amirite  
*hugs back* hope you liked this chapter! Love you!**

 **Guest, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _Such a happy, adorable bonus chapter...mumble...it's good but certainly depressing. Can't wait for the next continuing chapter which will be SO much happier. (In all honestly, I'm a sucker for tragedy!)_**

 **Yeah, it was really upbeat! And by that I mean not at all upbeat! Whoop!  
hopefully this chapter was happy enough for you, buddy!  
thanks for reviewing!**

 **Guest, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _This was soo GOOD! But acehe cant be dead..theres gonna be another one right RIGHT where he somehow comes Back to life_**

 **Nope! He stays dead!  
but hey, at least we've got the world where he's alive ;) mostly**

 **Tetsik, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _Scree_**

 **Ty I love you**

 **FireArrowAce, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _So this is what happened when Luffy was never born? I think I like the story with Luffy in it better.._**

 **Same fam same**

 **ScandinavianTrash, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _..._**

...  
Why  
I'm dying internally at school even more than I need to XD  
Oi make sure to health  
Update~

 **Hey my boi!  
don't worry, hopefully the dying faze is over now (HOPEFULLY)  
hmmm what was that about health sorry I didn't hear you  
ILY **

**Guest, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _It was a wonderful view of what could have been and really well written but how is this softer? I missed Luffy, Ace died and Sabo burnt the world so even though so many of my faves are dead in the story I think I'll keep the world where Shanks and Luffy exist. More hugs to make up for not reviewing on time last chapter:(_**

 **Good question! I don't have the energy to explain it all but basically… this world is simpler. It goes the way it was intended. The world of strays that we know is rougher, it's more complex, its scarier and more confusing and more real. I guess that's what I meant :)  
thank you for reviewing, ily! *hugs for days***

 **zoewinter1, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _Okay okay okay here's the deal: AAAAAAAAAAA now that that's out of the way, I really enjoyed this chapter! I love how you really thought through how this universe would have been affected not just without Luffy, but without Shanks and that almost has a greater impact since Shanks WAS the only one to care for him at a young age, however I have a question: did Makino survive in this AU since she never had Luffy? this needs answering! I love how... damaged those boys got? Sabo was near permanently crippled and Ace was blinded. and then! Ace died and Sabo destroyed the world? that's wild man I really love it (and now I'm tempted to write a one shot au of what if Ace never saved Luffy in Control but... that's on the back burner)_**

 **Hey zoe!  
ahhhHHH THANK YOU SO MUCCCH. Im so glad you liked it! and im squealing a lot rn!  
to answer your q – yeah, makino is alive! Or she would be…..if shed ever been born lol  
DIFFERENT TIMELINE WHOOP  
ily! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **7, Chapter 47, Aug 16:**

 ** _Omg so is this the softer world? It dosnt feel like it. Geez their life was so dark, they needed some luffy to make them happier. I can't wait for the next chapter! You said the story was coming to a close so I'm anxious to see how it happens. Thanks for not killing asl off and thanks for your amazing story:)_**

 **An explanation for the title is above!  
yeah, it was p dark, huh? Hey, at least it never happened.  
…..right?  
talk soon!**

 **NovaTheHedgehog7500, Chapter 47, Aug 17:**

 ** _It said "Softer World" and I was like 'oh maybe this will be a nice bite of happiness' but would you look at that more death coolio that's fine too_**

 **There's an explanation for the title in one of my other replies!  
and yeah death lmao its cool**

 **YJV, Chapter 47, Aug 17:**

 ** _Omg, wow. The alternate time line is nothing like I've ever expected. XD cool. Haha. But I prefer the wrecked and screwed one better_**

 **Yeah, i definitely agree – and im the one who wrote it :")**

 **ariririsu, Chapter 47, Aug 18:**

 ** _Luffy may be the unluckiest son of a bitch in the world, but oh my god, do Ace and Sabo consider themselves so fucking lucky that he was born.  
I love this chapter. Almost makes me wish I could see Ace and Sabo reacting to this as a dream.  
Almost. :P_**

 **ARI HI  
that first sentence made me feel things and idk why  
ahhh thank youuu!  
AND I FUCKING INCLUDED THAT AHAHAHAHAHA FUCK YEAH EMOTIONS**


	49. Epilogue - How We're Made

**So this is it. Strays is finished.**

 **I'm so incredibly grateful to everybody and anybody who stopped to read this, and especially to those who have favourited, followed, reviewed, drawn art, left suggestions and – a special few like Zoe (the best author and friend ever, an amazing person! ily zoe seriously thank you so so much), Ari (the best older sister ever) and Ty (absolutely incredible brother) – have become really amazing friends to me. It's been an amazing journey, and it's sad to see it end, but hopefully you all enjoyed! I'll be back on with a new fic before I know it, I'm sure (hint hint: asl!centric, futuristic wings!au, angst and fluff!)**

 **So thank you thank you thank you for reading! I love all of you! Enjoy this final chapter, and please leave a review on your way out.** **I have a few outtakes, extra scenes and explanations in my files. If anybody wants to see them, let me know - they'll be on the strays-fic tumblr, just like everything else! i really hope you like the ending i settled on!**

 **hopefully this chapter manages to sum up what this fic is really about :)**

* * *

 **Epilogue - How We're Made**

* * *

 _Two years later._

Ace's eyes slip open onto the dimly-lit ceiling above and he stares blankly for a second, blinking the darkness of sleep from his eyes. The sheets beneath him feel rough and in need of a wash, but familiar. For a minute or so, he feels utterly disorientated. Slowly, feeling a yawn rise in his throat, he sits up and stretches. His room is lit by the new dawn outside the window, grey streaked with orange and red. Limbs sated by sleep, he reaches across to the bedside table and snaps open the pouch with his meds, taking the recommended dose dry.

It's early, maybe six or seven, and the room is cold - not uncomfortably so, but cold nonetheless. Sabo is still asleep, and his presence feels closer to Ace than it has in a long time. Ace is glad. It just reminds him of what's in store for the next few days, and excitement bubbles in his chest.

He stands after a few minutes, rubbing his eyes and holding back another yawn, slipping his clothes on with half an eye on the rising sun outside. The beads around his wrist feel cold but the rest of him is warm, soothed by the sunlight and the calmness of the day. Lacing up his boots, Ace catches movement across the room and his head snaps up. Marco waves from the doorway, blonde hair slightly mussed by sleep.

 _'_ Awake?' he signs, smiling, and Ace replies with a nod and a smile as he stands and moves to his friend's side.

'Today's the day,' As Ace signs back. His hands flow and move with ease. He's been doing this for nearly two years now, and is pretty much fluent by now.

Marco crosses his arms and says something, lips moving too fast for Ace to interpret, before nodding. Both leader and second-in-command start down the corridor, light flashing past every few seconds as they pass by window after window, the walls illuminated by golden light as the sun peaks over the horizon. It's hard to believe that a mere two years ago, this corridor was nothing but rubble. Feeling a lick of panic rise up even past the anxiety meds, Ace fiddles with the beads on his wrist, tracing the 'J' carved into one of them. His eyes are downcast, and Marco doesn't attempt to communicate. They walk in comfortable silence and inactivity.

Things are messed up. Ace acknowledges this fully. They have been for a long time - the whole world has been for a very, very long time - but they have been especially for the last two years. They still are now, and though Ace is learning to live with everything that's changed, it's hard. It's really hard.

The explosion took a lot from the revolutionaries. It took a lot from Ace, too. While the revolutionaries tried to rebuild, mourned for even more dead, Ace woke up in a hospital bed with broken ribs and two extraordinarily worried brothers. They cried his name as he woke, relieved and overwhelming and moving too quickly for Ace's eyes to process, and they only silenced abruptly when he honest-to-god screamed.

The explosion took a lot from them, and it took the most from Ace.

And not being able to hear... It sucks. It does. Ace is more than willing to admit it. But for the last few years, everybody has been so _nice_ about it that it hurts. Marco, Scarlet, Jake, Sabo and Luffy all learned sign language, and Ace wanted to tell them that they didn't have to but his heart was so full that he couldn't get the words out. Some are more fluent than others. While Marco is completely fluid in his communication, Luffy is jerky and slow. But it still means so much, and Ace would never complain, especially to his younger brother. It's astounding that they even bothered in the first place.

He's still a revolutionary, proud to be a brother of liberty, and they're rebuilding the world from the bottom up. It's just a lot harder now than it ever has been, and Ace wonders sometimes if he's even worthy of being one of them (no matter how much Sabo tries to tell him that he is). The new generation of revs, fourteen and fifteen year olds so painfully young that it's scary, look up to Ace like he's a hero. Ace is twenty. If somebody would have told fourteen-year old him that he would still be alive at twenty, he probably would have laughed.

The world is hopeful, Sabo likes to think. It's most definitely broken in many ways, but it's regrowing. Ace doesn't know if he agrees, but he doesn't argue.

And the bond is still strong, of course. While Luffy is out chasing the wind with his wild crew, birthing the next generation of pirates in his wake, Sabo has a very different take on the world. Ace is proud of him, especially every time he gets a report that the newly-formed AANGEL and its new leader have freed another western town from anarchists, or overthrown another _Hyumangoddo_ stronghold. Sabo is a good leader, and AANGEL respect him just as they did his father. Luffy is a good captain, too, and Ace loves laughing with Marco about all the crazy stuff he gets up to. Marco thinks that a pirating era is on the horizon, and Ace privately agrees.

And today is the day that most of the more responsible revolutionaries have been dreading. The day that comes around every few months, when the three destructive brothers come together to share stories, sake and most likely some wild shenanigans. Having the leader of AANGEL, the second-in-command of the Revolutionary Army and the newly-dubbed Pirate Kind all together never spells good news, and Ace loves it.

'You're smiling. Should I be worried?' Marco signs with a small grin.

Ace nods resolutely. They enter the main hall laughing, as they do every morning, and heads snap up to look at them and smile as they pass. It's a typical routine. The chief and the right hand of the revs are good friends, and everybody knows it. They cross the hall, Ace still smiling. When the pair reach the commanders' table, Ace slips in next to Izo, who shoots him a small smile and offers him a slice of toast.

"You're smiling. What's going on?" Jozu asks suspiciously. He never learnt sign language, but speaks slowly enough for Ace to be able to read his lips.

Ace signs, 'This is the day.' Marco translates for the rest of the commanders, and Scarlet's face breaks into a look of horror. She says something quickly to the other commanders, looking distinctly scared, and similar looks erupt around the table. Ace feels his own grin grow.

'We're all going to die,' Scarlet signs, looking despairing. Across the table, Jake - the newly designated vice first-division commander, under Ace himself while Scarlet takes over the second division - grimaces.

'Sorry for having to tell you this, Ace, but she is right,' he signs rapidly. 'The last time they were here, Sabo killed a cat and Luffy nearly burned down HQ. I am slightly scared.'

Ace laughs boisterously and tucks into his toast, exchanging a smile with Izo, while Marco explains to the other commanders that the other two members of ASL should be here within an hour. Ace doesn't need hearing to know that they're all groaning, and he smirks into his cup of coffee.

'Knowing Sabo, he's already here,' he signs. Marco translates, and Scarlet drops her head against the table with a hopeless look on her face. Ace snickers.

 _What's that about me?_ Sabo's voice asks in his head, suddenly feeling incredibly close, and before Ace can react, he's on the floor. He yelps, hands moving to defend himself, but freezes when he catches sight of the blonde hair, scarred face and wide grin of his brother. Sabo sits on his chest, laughing hard. The commanders are half-raised from their seats with wide eyes, but once Ace starts laughing too, they sit back down with sighs of exasperation and fond smiles in equal measure.

 _Sabo!_ Ace roars joyfully, shoving the blonde off him with a playful growl and pinning him down. They wrestle for a few seconds, laughter infectious, before standing. Sabo only waits a second or so before pulling Ace into a rough hug, smiling into his shoulder. Ace returns the hug wholeheartedly, not caring about the eyes on them, and a gleeful laugh escapes his throat.

After a few moments, they release each other. Ace looks the other up down, hands on his shoulders. Sabo is practically glowing, the scars on his face more faded than ever, a constant reminder that even now, nobody knows just how he got them. His hair is pulled into a low ponytail, a few curly blonde locks framing his face, and his skin is tanned and clear. The silver of his eyes shines with affection. He looks so _alive,_ extraordinarily so.

Not many people in the Revolutionary Army know about Sabo and Ace's connection, so it must look strange when they walk off together, laughing and smiling at random intervals, not signing once. Ace decides that he doesn't care. He glances over his shoulder to wave goodbye to the commanders, planning to bring Sabo to the roof, and catches sight of AANGEL huddled in the doorway. Unlike two years ago, they smile at the revs and are welcomed warmly. Ace spots Koala standing in their small crowd, looking distinctly ticked off that Sabo has just left them, and laughs silently. At her side stands Haley, glowing with contentment, holding hands with a girl in a blue dress. She smiles across at Ace, and he smiles back before turning back to Sabo.

When they finally reach the wide roof, the pair sit down and look out over the ocean, eyes peeled for any sign of the Thousand Sunny as they catch up. At some point, Sabo ends up wearing Ace's hat and Ace ends up holding Sabo's, its surprising weight anchoring in his hand.

 _Ace stares hard at the rippling waves, trying to spot any hint of a shadow below the silvery curtain, but the stranger doesn't break the surface. After a few seconds, though, something dark blue and rounded floats limply to the surface ten feet or so away from where Ace stands, and before he knows what he's doing, Ace tears off his shirt and dives into the water._

 _The cold is like a stab in the chest. For a few seconds Ace is paralysed, unable to breathe, before he takes a strong breath in and tries to kick to the surface. Salty water fills his mouth and throat before he hits the open air, coughing helplessly. After a few seconds of spluttering and struggling, he manages to get air back into his lungs and push towards the navy-blue object, long ropes of seaweed licking at his legs from below the surface._

 _Ace manages to get to the strange object and treads water for a second, examining it. He knows immediately that it isn't the stowaway – it's too small and light, and is cylindrical in shape. Salty water blurs and stings his eyes, and as a shiver rakes up his spine, Ace turns back toward his small alcove, swimming as hard as he can towards the shore with the sopping wet object clutched in his hand._

 _Clambering onto the concrete ledge in front of the alcove, Ace rolls over and coughs out a few mouthfuls of seawater, pulling on his abandoned shirt as quickly as he can as shivers rack his frame. Once he's gotten his bearings back, the black-haired boy looks down at the blue item on the ground beside him, and-_

 _"I'd appreciate it if you gave that back."_

Ace shakes himself out of his memories as Sabo whoops, grabbing his arm and pointing out over the distant ocean, where a very familiar ship has just emerged from the mist.

* * *

"It amazes me that they're able to be this happy, yoi," Marco murmurs. "After everything that's happened..."

"Yeah, I know," the second mate of the Strawhat Pirates replies. Her voice is sad. She's the second mate, as far as Marco knows, because the place of first mate cannot be replaced even two years later. "Especially Ace. God, to lose your hearing like that... Not to mention the _scars_..."

"We try not to mention them," says Marco quickly. "Your captain being here helps, yoi. A lot. He still needs to take his meds, and it's still disastrous when he forgets, but we never see him as happy as he is when his brothers are visiting."

There's a second of silence. Nami picks at some dirt at the corner of her fingernail and asks, "How's business with the army?"

Marco sighs. "Tough. But at least we're getting by. The alliance with AANGEL helped a lot, and we're progressing. Of course, the mad weather isn't helping..."

Nami makes a frustrated noise, curling her legs up. They sit on a grassy bank, watching the brothers run around like mad things twenty feet away. The rest of the strawhats are having fun too, picnicking without a care across the field, but they give the trio their space. It's almost as if the ASL brothers are living in their own little bubble, and it's enchanting to watch.

"The weather. Fuck, where do I even _begin_ with the weather."

"You're a navigator, yoi, so I'm guessing that like all the other navigators I know, you have no idea what's happening?"

"An unfortunate series of events?" Nami laughs sadly. "Yeah, I have no clue. None of us do. The volcanic activity in the south is next to impossible. If it's really butterflies flapping their wings that cause hurricanes, there aren't enough in the world to cause the destruction in the west. Don't even get me _started_ on the east."

"The storms up here are..."

"Unusual at best, fatal at worse, yeah." Nami stands, shaking her head. "It's been good to talk to you, Marco-san, but I need to get back to my family now."

She turns away, but before she can walk away Marco calls. "Wait, one more thing-"

"What is it?"

Marco points towards Luffy. The seventeen-year old has his arms thrown up into the air and he's spinning, around and around like a top, laughing at the top of his lungs. His overgrown, messy hair hangs around his face. There are two scars on his face, one uniform and curved, one wide and jagged. Marco knows simply from Ace's stories that both of those scars have very different origins. There's a new addition to the skin around his left collarbone, too.

"What does that tattoo mean, yoi?"

 **HAPPY** , it reads, with a triangle replacing the 'A'. It draws Marco's eyes like a corpse - something you don't want to look at but can't stop yourself from wanting to examine.

Nami's face softens. From the eyes of an eighteen-year old girl, a scarred and seasoned sailor shines for a second.

"It's a tribute to his brothers. All three of them." She turns away for good. There's something hopeless in the set of her shoulders, now.

She walks back towards her crew. They smile at her, waving her over. The girl with blue hair and burn scars covering her arms has eyes filled with something that goes beyond love, somehow, as she looks at Nami. There's a distinct gap between the cook and the sniper, as if somebody else is meant to be there. Marco wonders, but doesn't feel like he should ask.

"Goodbye, Marco-san," Nami calls over her shoulder. Her red hair, a shaggy, sea-ruffled pixie cut, catches the sunlight.

"Yeah... Yes, goodbye, Nami," Marco replies. She doesn't hear him.

* * *

 _I love my brothers_ , Ace wants to yell, _they're amazing_! He wants to scream it off the rooftops, but now that he can't hear his own voice, he holds himself back. Instead, he just waves as Sabo and Luffy's ships disappear over the horizon, a wide grin on his face.

 _Are you sure you don't want us to stay, Ace?_ Sabo asks. He stands at the bow of his ship like a centry standing guard, eyes locked on his brother's. He asks the same thing every time, and the answer is always the same.

 _Go change the world!_ Ace yells back, waving until his arms ache. _Goodbye, Sabo!_

When they're gone, a familiar emptiness settles into the hollow of his stomach, but he ignores it. They're free, and happy. Each of them is doing what they want to do in life.

And that's all that matters, right?

* * *

 _'The world is going to destroy itself! And it's all your fucking fault!'_

* * *

Eyes snapping open, Ace jolts upwards so sharply that he almost falls off the bed. For a second, all he can feel is his ragged breathing. The ice in his chest burns like fire, like it always does when his nonexistent heart is beating wildly. The nightmare plays through over and over in his mind, flashing and flickering like a broken television, its severe clarity never fading.

Ace forces himself to stand, bare feet hitting the cold floorboards as he crosses the room to stand by the windowsill. For a second, with his brothers gone, a staggering rush of almost panic-inducing loneliness rushes over Ace. He considers going to Marco, who is sure to still be awake even at this hour, but decides against it a second later. He causes enough trouble for the man without running to him like a child with every nightmare. He's not fourteen anymore. He tries to open the window, but his fingers are trembling too much for him to be able to flick open the lock.

Exhaling sharply and trying to ground himself, Ace moves for the door, barely registering where his feet are taking him. His head spins with the darkness of the world around him. It's at times like this when it's the worst - when not only his hearing is gone, but his sight to boot. It seems ridiculous for Portgas D. Ace to be afraid of the dark after everything that he's been through but somehow, it really happened.

In the back of his mind, Ace feels Sabo stir slightly and murmur, _You're panicking. What can I do to help?_ After a second, sounding more awake, he adds, _try to breathe, okay_?

 _I'm alright_ , Ace replies, feeling an intense sensation of deja vu. _I will be, anyway. In the morning._

 _You always are_ , Sabo's voice slurs. _You say you are. Breathe. Breathe. We love you, Ace. You know that, right? Luffy loves you. The revs love you. I love you._

 _I love you, too,_ Ace says. _Now go back to sleep._

 _Alright._ Sabo yawns, presence dulling as he slips back into sleep, and Ace tries to slow his breathing and raging heartbeat in order to make it easier for him. He holds back the usual thoughts about how to not true, thoughts that rise on impulse by now, until he's sure that Sabo is sleeping deeply.

By the time his heartbeat has slowed to a normal rate, he's standing on the roof, staring into the inky blackness of a starless night. The night is utterly still, windless for the first time in months. Sometimes, it's so stormy up here that they have to block off the entrance. Nowadays, the weather's always going nuts.

And that's the thing, isn't it?

Ace sits, crossing his legs under him as the anxiety subsides to a low, unsettling hum in the pit of his stomach. He doesn't want to get sucked into his thoughts right now. It never means anything good. But he can't help it - the same cycle of thoughts begin to rage through his mind. He can feel the routine slipping into place and braces for it.

The weather has been more than just 'nuts' for months now; Ace knows that for certain. Everybody knows it, but nobody talks about it. He's known about it since it first started, but he only ever started to wonder what it meant when the dreams started.

They always consist of the same course of events. Ace wakes up in a darkened room, hands tied. Flames rage just outside of the single window. In the upper left corner of the room, in a shaft of light, a butterfly flutters through the air at a lazy pace. Just like Ace, it's trapped. With every flap of its wings, the room shakes.

A voice starts up, quiet at first and growing with volume as it speaks. It's anger intensifies with every word, and soon, it grows so loud that the words are distorted and inhuman. Ace can't raise his hands to his ears. He's forced to live through the all-too-real dream in its entirety until the words are burned into his mind for good.

 ** _'The world is going to destroy itself! And it's all your fucking fault!'_**

It makes sense.

When the dreams began, so clear and repetitive, Ace didn't know what to think. His mind scrambled for some kind of reasonable explanation - he tried to sketch them out, write about them, even tried to interact with the dreams when he was experiencing them. Nothing changed. The words stayed them, and the strange, destructive weather patterns got worse. Today, they're worse than ever. Magma bursts from cracks in the earth in the south. Hurricanes and desert storms, viscous enough to kill hundreds, terrorise the west. The East lives under the constant tyrannical rule of tsunamis and water tornadoes - or, at least, what's left of it.

It makes sense.

" _We're not taking into account one thing – the Butterfly Effect_ ," Leo's voice whispers into his ear.

It makes sense.

The butterfly effect - the concept that a butterfly flapping its wings on the southern Fringe can create a viscous storm off the northern mainland. One tiny change can impact the world itself.

As the dreams got worse, Ace grew more paranoid. His anxiety got worse. On some days, his brain was so muddled that he couldn't even sign properly. Marco wondered - Ace could see it in his eyes - but didn't ask; nobody did. And slowly, entirely on his own, Ace came to a conclusion that terrified him to the core.

The prophecy was always meant to come true.

Roger knew that the timeline was out of the window when he said it, he knew that things had changed. But he still recited it. He must have known that, somehow, it was destined to come true in the end.

As the dreams grew longer, more intense, more revealing, Ace spent hours every night wracking his brains as to what they could mean - how they could be pulled together into an answer. There was only one (relatively) logical conclusion he could come to, and that in itself was the last thing he wanted. After all this, it was the last thing he could have wanted or expected.

Roger's sons were still going to bring the world to its knees. But instead of Ace and Sabo, it was going to be Luffy.

The timeline is broken. This, Ace knows for sure. The fabric of time itself was torn, a hole made in it for Luffy and Shanks to reside in, and it's tearing further every day as Luffy and his crew make history. The world is changing irreparably.

With a shudder, Ace finally _lets it all go._ Fuck all of these secrets. Fuck keeping it close to his chest. He can't take it anymore.

 _Sabo? Sabo, wake up, please wake up. Please, please, please wake up._

Slowly, the ever-present consciousness at the back of Ace's mind stirs once more. A tired, familiar, concerned voice asks, _Ace?_

Ace steels himself and says, Sabo, _please come back._

Sabo's presence flares - with worry, with hope, with an unconditional kind of selflessness that Ace has never had - and he replies immediately, _okay. I'll bring Luffy. We'll be there before dawn. Hang in there, Ace. Whatever this is, we're going to stop it._

 _God,_ _ **Sabo**_ _._ Tears prick at Ace's eyes. He's so stupidly detirmined, so brave that it hurts. War-hardened and weary, Ace could never imagine being like that. Not now, anyway - not anymore. The worst part is, there is no way to stop it. _Sabo, I- thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you thank you thank you._ _ **Thank you for loving me.**_

 _We couldn't stop ourselves from loving you if we tried, Ace. We're your brothers._

A ten-tonne weight unclenching from around his heart, Ace sits back, crosses his arms over his face and waits.

* * *

Outside, slowly, it has begun to rain.

'Ace,' Luffy signs, head burrowed into his shoulder. 'Ace, we love you. We do. And we don't care if the world is ending - we're still gonna be together, even if it does.'

Sabo nods, sitting on his other side, his top hat sitting heavy on Ace's head. _What he said_ , he says. Ace's bed creaks beneath them.

Marco was concerned when Sabo and Luffy ran into the main hall at 3AM, out of breath and panicked, but didn't ask when Ace just told him that the three of them needed to talk. Ace is thankful for that, at least. Now, they sit in Ace's room. It's dimly lit, but the light of a slow dawn will soon fill the sky, and for now, they don't need much light. Ace is just content to sit here and talk. It feels so good to finally get it out, it's surreal. And Sabo and Luffy are taking it surprisingly well.

'I'm sorry,' he signs.

 _You don't need to be_. Almost as if he's trying to change the subject, Sabo looks up and his eyes zero in on a small notebook on Ace's bedside. _What is that?_

 _Ah, yeah. That's-_

Ace stands suddenly, walking across the room to pick up the small diary and flicking open the first page. The words wink up at him like a curse - ' **My name is Portgas D. Ace, and I'm broken.'** He can see the gruesome scars that cover his hands as they hold open the book, and winces. It's not often that he remembers what the explosion took aside from his hearing.

Without hesitation, he walks back across the room and, under his brothers' watchful eyes, throws the diary out of the window. It disappears into the darkness for good.

 _It's something stupid,_ he settles on.

Luffy shoots him a curious look but says nothing as he sandwiches himself back in between them.

'You two were right,' Ace signs eventually. He hugs Luffy closer to his side, and accepts Sabo's comforting, grounding affection. A hand clenches around the rough, scarred surface of his own. For a second, everything feels the way it should.

'About what?' Luffy asks.

Ace smiles. 'Even if the world is going to end,' he says, 'Just living for today with you two is enough. Just having today is enough.'

It really is. They're together. There will always be shadows in the night - there always have been, there always will be. The world is broken, ugly, heartbreaking. But it's the world where the three of them are together, and in Ace's mind, that's the best way it could possibly be. If fate is so adamant that they must not be together that she's willing to tear apart everything they know, then so be it. For now, with the world burning outside their window, it's enough. Ace loves his brothers, they love him. It's the world that he wants to live in the most, even if it is terrifying, even if it does want him dead.

Because god knows there are far worse worlds to live in.

* * *

 **thank you for reading! i love you, i love you, i love you!**


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